EU Data Protection Supervisor Releases Report on Pending Data Protection Reforms
By Marlena Wach
The European Union Data Protection Supervisor, Giovanni Buttarelli, recently released his non-binding recommendations on the draft EU General Data Protection Regulation, which is the subject of a so-called “trilogue” consultative process among officials of the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of Ministers to agree on final language of the regulations. It is largely expected that once finalized, the GDPR will be adopted before year end 2015, which will require approval by both the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. As reflected in an annex to Mr. Buttarelli’s recommendations, the European Parliament and Council of Ministers have differed in their approach to various aspects of the regulations, particularly as to enforcement and sanctions, necessitating the trilogue discussions.