Proposal to protect data in EU institutions and bodies
A proposal to protect personal data within European Union institutions and associated bodies through regulation has been put forward by the European Commission A set of rules would ensure the security of personal data while an independent supervisory body would monitor the application of these rules. The proposed regulation must now be passed by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament in order to comply with Article 286 of the Amsterdam Treaty which obliged the EU to introduce new data protection safeguards. The data protection Directive adopted in 1995 applied only to Member States, although the Commission and the Council made a public declaration to adhere to it. Under the proposed regulation data must be processed fairly and lawfully and must be collected only for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes. Every reasonable step must be taken to ensure data is to the point, accurate and up to date. Citizens would enjoy legally enforceable rights including rights of access, rectification, blocking and deletion of personal data relating to them from the files held by EU institutions. A European Data Protection Authority will be established comparable to the data protection authorities in Member States. Citizens could lodge complaints directly with this independent body if they considered their data protection rights had been infringed.