What Is on the Horizon?

• Author: Katherine H Woodcock; W Gregory Voss
• Pages: 207-212

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8

What Is on the Horizon?

We are close to the end of our discussion of European privacy and data protection law,

but before we arrive at our concluding points at the end of this chapter, we will rst

cover what is on the horizon, including the current play on EU data protection law

reform and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

It has been over three and one-half years since the European Commission pro-

posed the GDPR, as discussed in the preface of this book, and in each section we have

pointed out, where relevant, the corresponding provisions of the Commission’s origi-

nal proposal for such legislation. Such a time period is not surprising, given the lobby-

ing that has occurred regarding the GDPR, which when adopted will affect one of the

world’s most important economic sectors—information technology.1 Former Com-

mission Vice-President and Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding compared the adop-

tion process for the GDPR to that of the Directive, saying that the latter “took ve

years to negotiate.”2 In addition, we have seen other past examples of prolonged adop-

tion processes for EU legislation, such as the chemicals regulation REACH, which

took approximately three years to adopt after the Commission published its proposal.3

This chapter will look at the current and future legislative process regarding the

GDPR, certain key amendments made to the GDPR in the European Parliament, and

nally the right to be forgotten, which follows an important European court decision.

I. CURR ENT AND FUTU RE LEGI SLATIVE PROCESS

On March 12, 2014, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in plenary session

(621 votes for, 10 against, and 22 abstentions)4 for a version of the proposed GDPR, as

amended by its LIBE (Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs) committee (theLIBE

1. For a short discussion of the lobbying on the GDPR, see W. Gregory Voss, Looking at European

Union Data Protection Law Reform through a Different Prism: The Proposed EU General Data Protection

Regulation Two Years Later 17(9) J. I L. 1, 19 (2014).

2. See Press Release, Commission, Data Protection Day 2014: Full Speed on EU Data Protection Reform,

MEMO/14/60 (Jan. 27, 2014), available at http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-14-60_en.htm.

3. See Commission, History of the Adoption Process for the New Chemicals Legislation, available at http://

ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/reach/background/index_en.htm (last visited on Feb. 28, 2015).

4. See Press Release, Commission, Progress on EU Data Protection Reform Now Irreversible Fol-

lowing European Parliament Vote, MEMO/14/186, Mar. 12, 2013, available at http://europa.eu/rapid/

press-release_MEMO-14-186_en.htm.

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