D-Day looms for new EU data laws

Next week could determine the future of data-driven marketing as we know it, as the influential civil liberites committee (LIBE) kicks off the final debate over the proposed EU data laws, with more than 3,000 amendments on the table.
Dubbed “the most crucial week in the history of direct marketing”, LIBE – which is the lead committee driving the proposals – convenes on Wednesday, with member states reviewing the proposals in parallel.
The committee is set to vote on the amendments on May 29 or 30, with the outcome likely to be adopted by most MEPs in the final European Parliament vote.
However, most observers believe it may be difficult to meet EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding’s goal of a political agreement on the legislation by July.
“I see some intense work in the upcoming weeks,” said Jan Philipp Albrecht, the German MEP who sits on LIBE. “This issue of data protection today covers all areas of society. There are still some open questions.”
These include marketing consent, with conflicting opinions over whether the proposals have been relaxed; the compulsory appointment of data controllers; the so-called “right to be forgotten”; and data portability.
Albrecht said, even if the thousands of amendments can be distilled to hundreds, voting on them will still take at least one day. In parallel with this, justice ministers are tackling the same issues, and due to focus on data protection again at their June meeting.
It is understood that while Reding is keen to get political agreement under Ireland’s EU presidency, which ends in June, some member countries believe the pace of negotiations should slow, because getting the highly technical negotiations right takes time.
One industry source said: “To say this is the most crucial week in the history of direct marketing is no understatement. The outcome of the LIBE committee debate will determine whether we have a future. It’s easy to dismiss many of the proposals as political posturing but if they pass ‘explicit consent’ for marketing, we’re doomed.”
The DMA has urged all those involved in data-driven marketing to lobby their MEPs by downloading its toolkit at www.dma.org.uk/eu-data-protection

D-Day looms for new EU data laws

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