European Parliament Panel OKs New Data Protection Rule; Full Vote Next Step

The European Parliament's Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee overwhelmingly approved the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), intended to create a uniform set of data protection rules and give the EU's 500 million citizens more control over how their information is used (see 1512160001). The committee Thursday voted 53-2 with one abstention in favor of the 204-page regulation agreed to by the parliament and council Tuesday, a parliament news release said. It said the GDPR must still be voted on by the full parliament in spring, probably March or April, and then the EU's 28 member states have two years to "transpose the provisions of the new directive into their national laws." Marju Lauristin, the lead member of the European Parliament on the directive, said in a statement that "these rules, applying to cooperation between EU member states and with third countries on transferring and processing of data, should facilitate the sharing of information, while at the same time ensuring that European citizens’ fundamental rights are not violated." While GDPR gives EU citizens more say in how their data can be used through a codified right to be forgotten and informed consent, among other provisions, advocates said the regulation also cuts down on red tape by harmonizing 28 different standards and applying uniform enforcement. But several business officials said GDPR may create more complexity and bureaucracy (see 1512150004).