Collecting and protecting data

Summary:

Data on EU citizens will soon be shared between member states, but not as extensively as some had hoped. Judith Crosbie reports.

More than two years after the European Commission first introduced a proposal for legislation to protect data held by law-enforcement authorities in Europe, EU member states look set to sign up to an agreed text.

The proposal has been controversial because some member states wanted to see the measure applied to data held nationally and data transferred between states whereas others wanted it to cover only cross-border transfers of data.