Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On April 8, 2016, the Council of the European Union (the “Council”) will adopt its position on the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). The General Secretariat of the Council of the EU sent a Note (the “Note”) asking the Permanent Representatives Committee to use the “written procedure” to adopt the Council's position. The adoption of the Council's position was initially planned for a vote on April 21, 2016, during the next Justice and Home Affairs Council, but the Council has decided to expedite the process for adoption by using the “written procedure,” which is an exceptional procedure that does not include public deliberation.

The Note explains that “[g]iven the need to send the Council's position at first reading to the European Parliament during its April I plenary, it will only be possible to adopt the Council's position at first reading within this very short deadline via the written procedure, which would be launched on Thursday 7 April 2016 and would end on Friday 8 April 2016, at midday. Delegations' attention is drawn to the exceptionally short duration of this written procedure.”

Next Steps

Once adopted, the Council's position will be sent to the European Parliament, which will acknowledge receipt during the next plenary session that will take place on April 11-13, 2016. Then, the Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee (“LIBE”) will vote on a recommendation to Parliament regarding acceptance of the Council’s position. The LIBE recommendation will be used as a basis for the Parliament’s adoption of the GDPR in one of the upcoming plenary meetings.