NACHRICHTEN
The developments in the field of data protection were discussed during the European Parliament’s (EP) Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (LIBE) meeting, which was attended by Cyprus’ Justice and Public Order Minister, Mr. Louca Louca. In his opening speech, the President of the EP, Mr Martin Schulz, highlighted the Cyprus Presidency’s excellent work and its’ substantial role in the progress that has been achieved. “The problems that occur, are not due to the Cyprus Presidency, with which we have excellent cooperation”, Mr Schulz added.
Mr. Louca presented today those Cyprus Presidency’s activities which have resulted in a steady progress in the field of data protection. The two-day meeting, which started yesterday and was concluded today, took place in Brussels and was attended by parliamentarians of EU Member States.
Intensive and structured discussions
The Presidency is pressing full speed ahead with the discussions, within the relevant working group, on the data protection reform package and is achieving steady progress at technical level, regarding both the proposed General Regulation and the Directive for criminal matters.
At the same time, the Cyprus Presidency is activating, on a more structured basis, the discussion of three important horizontal themes of the Regulation, which arose at the initial stage of the discussions. Namely, the administrative costs which the Regulation could place on small and medium sized enterprises, the implementation of the Regulations’ provisions concerning common rules in both the public and private sectors as well as the Commission’s extended powers which the Regulation provides. The Presidency has planned a series of meetings with the Friends of the Presidency, while it is in constant contact with the Commission, the Rapporteurs of the LIBE Committee, as well as Member States industry representatives.
“As you can see, we work intensively, so as to reach a political agreement on these horizontal issues until the end of the Cyprus Presidency’s term,” the Justice Minister stressed. “The Cyprus Presidency aims to achieve as much progress as possible before handing this file over to the Irish Presidency, in order for them to carry on efforts,” he added.
The Justice Minister also highlighted the crucial role of the close partnership between the Council, the Commission and the European Parliament in achieving swift success in Data Protection negotiations.
The work undertaken by the Cyprus Presidency concerning the modernization of the data protection law had been praised by the European Commission’s Vice-President, Ms. Viviane Reding during last July’s two-day Informal Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Meeting, which took place on between July 23 and 24. This was confirmed today by Mr. Schulz’s comments.
Nikos Christodoulides
Coreper II
Email: nchristodoulides@mfa.gov.cy
Telefon: +32 27395152
Mobiltel: +32 473400441
Loizos Hadjivasiliou
Ministry of Justice and Public Order
National Delegate/COSI
Email: lhadjivasiliou@papd.mof.gov.cy
Telefon: +357 22805979
Lefki Solomontos
Ministry of Justice & Public Order
Email: lsolomontos@mjpo.gov.cy
Telefon: +357 22805996
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