On 16 June, Ecommerce Europe sent a letter to Executive Vice-President Virkkunen and Commissioner McGrath, calling for caution regarding a possible reopening of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
While we welcome the objective of reducing administrative burden, especially for smaller businesses under the IV Omnibus legislative package, Ecommerce Europe is concerned about a possible reopening of the core text of the GDPR. As detailed in the letter, we believe that the existing framework has largely proven to be effective in delivering legal certainty for businesses as well as ensuring a high level of protection for data subjects across the EU. Businesses have massively invested over the years to comply with rules and still struggle to implement the diverging interpretations across Member States. This is why we believe that any attempt to reopen the Regulation would pose significant legal and practical risks outweighing the potential benefits.
Instead, Ecommerce Europe urges the Commission to prioritise supporting stakeholders’ compliance by addressing the persistent challenges arising from divergent interpretations of the GDPR across Member States. This could be done through more practical, solution-oriented guidelines developed at EU level. To that extent, we encourage the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) to put in place consistent public consultations and enhance the transparency of its drafting process.
Read the full letter here.