This week’s meeting of the EU Justice Council has been described as one of the most crucial stages of negotiations over the proposed data laws, with talks entering what EU diplomats have dubbed the “hot phase”.
The meeting, being held tomorrow (Friday), will see justice ministers from across the EU thrash out their views on the draft EU Data Protection Regulation.
Nine countries – including the UK, Germany, Sweden and Belgium – have already said they are opposed to several measures that could hit businesses hard at a time when many EU countries are hoping that data-related businesses will help boost economic growth.
So far there have been nearly 1,000 amendments put forward by MEPs, with the DMA claiming the UK marketing industry’s united front has been a major factor in getting the worst excesses of the legislation removed.
With two more votes to go after tomorrow’s meeting, the industry body is urging companies to continue to lobby their MEPs. The Employment Committee is the next to vote, followed by the final vote from the civil liberties committee (LIBE) – at the end of April.
It has launched a toolkit – available to download at www.dma.org.uk/eu-data-protection – to help firms contact their MEPs.
DMA boss Chris Combemale said recently: “The UK marketing industry has mounted a co-ordinated effort across Europe to achieve data protection legislation that balances the rights of citizens and companies.
“By operating with a consistent voice and a single set of proposals the industry has presented a unified approach that is gaining traction with key legislators. Almost 1,000 amendments have been proposed, many of them drawn from the unified position of the marketing industry.”
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