2.1 Actions by the European Commission

Shortly after the Regulation entered into force mid-2016, the Commission has engaged with Member States’ authorities, data protection authorities and stakeholders to prepare the application of the Regulation and provide support and advice. a) Supporting Member States and their authorities The Commission has been working very closely with the Member States to support their work during the transition period, with a view to ensuring the highest possible level of consistency. To this end, the Commission has set up an Expert Group to accompany the Member States in their effort to prepare for the Regulation. The Group, which met already 13 times, acts as a forum where the Member States can share their experiences and expertise 14 . The Commission also engaged in bilateral meetings with Member States’ authorities to discuss issues arising at national level. b) Supporting the individual data protection authorities and the creation of the European Data Protection Board The Commission has been actively supporting the work of the Article 29 Working Party also in view of ensuring a smooth transition to the European Data Protection Board 15 . c) International outreach The Regulation will further strengthen the EU ability to actively promote its data protection values and facilitate cross border data flows by encouraging the convergence of legal systems globally 16 . EU data protection rules are increasingly recognised at international level as setting out some of the highest standards of data protection in the world. Council of Europe Convention 108, the only legally binding multilateral instrument in the area of personal data protection, is also being modernised. The Commission is working for it to reflect the same principles as those enshrined in the new EU data protection rules and thus help install a uniform set of high data protection standards. The Commission will actively promote the swift adoption of the modernised text of the Convention with a view to the EU becoming a Party to it 17 . The Commission encourages non-EU countries to ratify Council of Europe Convention 108 and its additional Protocol. Furthermore, several countries and regional organisations outside the EU, from our immediate neighbourhood to Asia, Latin America and Africa, are adopting new data protection legislation or updating the existing one in order to harness the opportunities offered by the global digital economy and respond to the growing demand for stronger data security and privacy protection. While countries differ in their approach and their level of legislative development, there are signs that the Regulation serves increasingly as a reference point and a source of inspiration 18 . In this context, the Commission is pursuing its international outreach in line with its January 2017 Communication 19 by actively engaging with key trading partners, notably in East and South-East Asia and Latin America to explore the possibility to adopt adequacy decisions 20 . In particular, the Commission is working with Japan towards achieving a simultaneous finding of an adequate level of protection by both sides by early 2018, as announced by President Juncker and Prime Minister Abe in their joint declaration of 6 July 2017 21 . Talks have also been launched with South Korea in view of a possible adequacy decision. The adoption of an adequacy decision would ensure the free flow of data with the concerned third countries while ensuring that a high level of protection applies when personal data is transferred from the EU to these countries. At the same time, the Commission is working with stakeholders with a view to harnessing the full potential of the GDPR toolkit for international transfers by developing alternative transfer mechanisms adapted to the particular needs of specific industries and/or operators 22 .

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07