New EU data protection rules increase administrative burden

Reacting on the European Parliament plenary vote on the EU general data protection regulation, Markus J. Beyrer, Director General of BUSINESSEUROPE, said: “We appreciate the efforts of the EU institutions to reach a final agreement on the revised set of European rules on data protection. However, we regret that these rules do not strike the right balance between protecting citizens and enabling free movement of data in the digital single market. The new EU data protection rules will increase administrative burden. They could negatively affect European innovation and competitiveness.

Even though the new regulation will lead to a single set of data protection rules at European level, it still leaves too much room for potential fragmentation in the single market, because member states and data protection authorities will have a significant margin of manoeuvre to set and apply different rules in the different member states. We need consistent implementation of the regulation to ensure further harmonisation.”

BUSINESSEUROPE is committed to working with national authorities and member states to ensure that the new rules are applied consistently across Europe and do not create excessive burdens for companies. Read our background position paper.