An Instrument of Intensified Informal Mutual Assistance: The Internal Market Information System (IMI) and the Protection of Personal Data

Abstract:

Public administrative authorities at a national and at a European level, more and more often, have to cooperate for the application of European regulations; hence, they are faced with the new challenges and problems raised by the different languages, administrative and working techniques of their counterparts. The Internal Market Information (IMI) system was conceived to overcome these difficulties and to help national and EU public administration to cooperate in order to make prompt and lawful decisions. The mutual exchange of information in IMI raises relevant legal issues in relation to the protection of the rights of the data subject when their data are processed within the network.