Data protection reform: Home by Christmas

NGOs are scared data protection reform will get slashed. Not so fast, says Albrecht.

Public advocates are deeply concerned that Europe’s data protection reforms will get watered down, but German MEP Jan Philipp Albrecht of the Greens Group told POLITICO on Tuesday that he is upbeat about an agreement by yearend.

There’s “a good chance we will get an agreement” on the General Data Protection Regulation, said Albrecht, one of the rapporteurs in the European Parliament on the legislation. His earlier skepticism appears to have ebbed over the past few months as member states showed more willingness to compromise.

The European Council wants to nail down its position in June, so negotiations with the European Commission and Parliament can begin, said Albrecht, but cautioned, “Of course, it comes down to the details.”

Some of those details are worrying a broad coalition of 66 non-governmental organizations, which sent an open letter to Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Tuesday. They urged him to stand firm on a promise of an “absolute red line” on privacy protections for citizens.

“The Council has retreated beyond this line and is disappearing into the distance,” the public advocates wrote. “A failure of the European Commission to maintain levels of data protection in the 1995 Directive would be a breach of the promise made by the European Commission.”

When asked about Albrecht’s new perspective, Joe McNamee, executive director of EDRi, said the rapporteur’s “analysis appears unduly and surprisingly optimistic.”

Council documents that leaked in March suggested member states were considering watering down proposals, such as the right for people to be asked for consent before companies use their data, limits on what companies can do with personal data, and sanctions for rule breakers.

The Council still hasn’t publicly laid out most of its positions, except for a compromise member states have struck on the “one stop shop” aspect that will make it easier for citizens to complain about the treatment of their personal data.

The MEP said countries such as France, Spain and Italy want to reach a compromise soon — as indeed does Germany, which was being awkward about a series of minor points until the new federal coalition took over last year.

The big current holdout is the United Kingdom, although Albrecht noted: “It would be very strange if a UK government at the moment would be in favor of a regulation on any issue, so I wouldn’t take it too seriously.”

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