07/01/2016
Following on from our article at the end of November, setting out the position in regards to the new Data Protection Regulation, the end of 2015 saw the announcement of a further and significant development.
On 15 December 2015 agreement was finally reached on what the Data Protection reform package would look like. The expectation is, therefore, that this package will be formally agreed early this year by the European Parliament and Council and then come into force in a further two years, in early 2018. This leap forward will therefore allow business to begin substantively preparing for the new Regulation with an increased certainty.
Whilst the wording of the Regulation is yet to be published, you can find our predictions for what we anticipate the key recommendations will be in our previous article.
When the finalised text of the Regulation is formally approved and adopted (which we expect to be in March or April of this year) we will provide more detailed guidance as to what this includes and the practical steps that employers should begin taking in readiness.
The European Commission and European Parliaments both released press releases on this development, which can be located here http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-6321_en.htm and http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/20151217IPR08112/New-EU-rules-on-data-protection-put-the-citizen-back-in-the-driving-seat
