Italy urges new EU-wide data protection legislation

Date: 14/05/1998

ITALY is calling on fellow EU governments to draw up a set of general data protection rules to cover information held by police forces and anti-terrorism agencies.

There are currently no Union-wide regulations on how data gathered under the Union's justice and home affairs arm, known as the 'third pillar', should be protected.

The whole issue is currently governed by a patchwork of ad hoc or incomplete agreements. The Europol police agency will, for example, have one set of rules when it eventually becomes operational, while the central database for the Schengen free movement pact - which will be incorporated into the EU once the Amsterdam Treaty is ratified - has its own separate code.

Meanwhile, governments are still trying to work out how data protection will be assured once a Union-wide convention on mutual assistance in criminal proceedings finally comes online.

Italy argues that as most EU cooperation on justice and home affairs matters involves exchanges of information, it makes sense to agree a common approach.

"The Italian delegation has called for some sort of horizontal instrument to be drawn up; something which would make things simpler," said one Union justice expert.

Some insiders suggest Rome is keen to push for new rules because of concerns that some of the current data protection agreements could be incompatible with Italy's national regulations.

Civil liberties campaigners have also criticised the lack of clear data protection safeguards to cover information stored in powerful databases.

"Data protection does not exist in the third pillar. It is high time that something was done, although I have my doubts that this is not just some kind of cosmetic exercise," said German MEP Claudia Roth, president of the European Parliament's Green Group and a member of the civil liberties committee.

Two EU directives covering data protection outside the field of justice and home affairs are due to come into force in October.

The first, known as the General Directive on Data Protection, was approved by the Council of Ministers in 1995. The second, dealing specifically with information passed over telecommunications networks, was agreed last summer.

Roth argues it is ironic that the Union has rules to protect personal information in activities such as banking or online shopping while the really sensitive areas remain unprotected.

She cites the example of the Europol database, which will contain information on people's race, sexuality and political leanings which will be available to police forces across the Union.

Insiders say that while most EU governments concede that there is a need to clarify the data protection issue, it is likely to be a very long time before any legislation appears on Europe's statute books.

The justice and home affairs law-making process is very slow and it invariably takes several years for national parliaments to ratify a deal even after ministers have approved it.

Ministers are likely to discuss the data protection issue when they meet in Brussels at the end of this month.

Italy is calling on EU governments to draw up a set of general data protection rules to cover information held by police forces and anti-terrorism agencies.