Data protection friends assert themselves once again

Socialists, Greens and Liberals had already agreed on a data protection-friendly position last week in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE). Now they have also obtained a majority in the plenary for their position.

Today's vote was preceded by heated debates. The Christian Democrats in particular had forced today's vote because they disagreed with the committee's position. Accordingly, the result of the vote was narrow. 318 members of parliament supported the data protection-friendly approach, 280 voted against. Socialist negotiator Birgit Sippel, who is taking over this task from Marju Lauristin, can now enter the trialogue negotiations with the Council as soon as it has established a position. However, their negotiating position is weakened by the tight mandate.

The cep analysed the Commission's proposal a few months ago and criticised it clearly (see cep analysis).