Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2019/493

What it is

to discourage European political parties and European political foundations from taking advantage of the results of infringements of the data protection rules with a view to deliberately influencing the outcome of the elections to the European Parliament. PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure on an equal footing with council. BACKGROUND: recent events have demonstrated the potential risks associated with the illicit use of personal data in relation to electoral processes and democracy. In 2018, the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica case concerning the alleged unlawful processing of user personal data acquired from Facebook by the company Cambridge Analytica raised serious concerns on the impact of data protection infringements on electoral processes. Investigations are ongoing in relation to this particular case, inter alia by the UK data protection supervisory authority which is leading the European investigation. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has opened an investigation on the case. A series of hearings took place in the European Parliament on the case and its impact on individuals’ personal data in the Union The Committee on Constitutional Affairs adopted the joint report by Mercedes BRESSO (S&D, IT) and Rainer WIELAND (EPP, DE) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 as regards a verification procedure related to infringements of rules on the protection of personal data in the context of elections to the European Parliament. The committee recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission's proposal. The amended text stipulated that a European political party or a European political foundation shall not influence or attempt to influence the outcome of elections to the European Parliament by taking advantage of an infringement, by a natural or legal person, of the applicable rules on the protection of personal data. This shall only apply if a supervisory authority of a Member State has established, by an enforceable decision , that an infringement of the applicable rules on data protection has occurred. When the Authority becomes aware of such conduct, it shall refer this matter to the committee of independent eminent persons without undue delay and no later than 3 months after that notification. The committee shall give an opinion, within a short, reasonable deadline set by the Authority, as to whether or not the European political party or European political foundation concerned has violated such rights. Having regard to the committee's opinion, the Authority shall decide whether to impose financial sanctions on the European political party or European political foundation concerned. The decision of the Authority shall be duly reasoned, in particular with regard to the committee’s opinion, and shall be published expeditiously. Where a decision of the national supervisory authority has been…

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