REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on administrative cooperation through the Internal Market Information System (‘the IMI Regulation’)

23.3.2012 - (COM(2011)0522 – C7‑0225/2011 – 2011/0226(COD)) - ***I

Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection
Rapporteur: Adam Bielan

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on administrative cooperation through the Internal Market Information System (‘the IMI Regulation’)

(COM(2011)0522 – C7‑0225/2011 – 2011/0226(COD))

(Ordinary legislative procedure: first reading)

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2011)0522 ),

–   having regard to Article 294(2) and Article 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C7-0225/2011),

–   having regard to Article 294(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–   having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of 7 December 2011[1],

–   having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,

–   having regard to the report of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (A7-0068/2012),

1.  Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out;

2.  Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it intends to amend its proposal substantially or replace it with another text;

3.  Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

Amendment 1 Proposal for a regulation Recital 1
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
(1) The application of certain Union acts governing the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital in the internal market requires Member States to cooperate and exchange information with one another and with the Commission. As practical means to implement such information exchange are often not specified in those acts, appropriate practical arrangements need to be made.	(1) The application of certain legal acts of the Union governing the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital in the internal market requires Member States to cooperate more effectively and exchange information with one another and with the Commission. As practical means to implement such information exchange are often not specified in those acts, appropriate practical arrangements need to be made.
Amendment  2 Proposal for a regulation Recital 8
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
(8) In order to ensure transparency, in particular for data subjects, the Union acts for which IMI is to be used should be listed in Annex I to this Regulation. Areas of possible further expansion should be set out in Annex II. It is appropriate to identify in Annex II, a set of Union acts where it is necessary to evaluate the technical feasibility; cost efficiency, user friendliness and the overall impact on the system, before it is decided to use IMI for such acts.	(8) In order to ensure transparency, in particular for data subjects, the legal acts of the Union for which IMI is to be used should be listed in the Annex to this Regulation.
	(This amendment applies throughout the text. Adopting it will necessitate corresponding changes throughout.)
Amendment  3 Proposal for a regulation Recital 11 a (new)
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
	(11a) The Member States and the Commission should ensure that IMI actors have the adequate resources available in order to achieve efficient and well-functioning administrative cooperation through IMI.
Amendment  4 Proposal for a regulation Recital 12
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
(12) While IMI is in essence a communication tool for public authorities, not open to the general public, technical means may need to be developed to allow external actors such as citizens, enterprises and organisations to interact with the competent authorities in order to supply information and retrieve data, or to exercise their rights as data subjects. Such technical means should include appropriate safeguards for data protection.	(12) While IMI is in essence a communication tool for public authorities, not open to the general public, technical means may need to be developed to allow external actors such as citizens, enterprises and organisations to interact with the competent authorities in order to supply information and retrieve data, or to exercise their rights as data subjects. Such technical means should include appropriate safeguards for data protection. In order to ensure a high level of security, any such public interface should be developed as a separate technical system to the IMI application to which only IMI users should have access.
Amendment  5 Proposal for a regulation Recital 16
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
(16) The European Data Protection Supervisor should monitor and ensure the application of the provisions of this Regulation, including the relevant provisions on data security.	(16) The European Data Protection Supervisor should monitor and ensure the application of the provisions of this Regulation, inter alia maintaining contacts with national data protection authorities, including the relevant provisions on data security.
Amendment  6 Proposal for a regulation Recital 16 a (new)
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
	(16a) The effective monitoring of and reporting on the application of this Regulation requires the regular provision by the Member States of relevant information to the Commission.
Amendment  7 Proposal for a regulation Recital 18 a (new)
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
	(18a) In order to enhance confidence in the operability of IMI, the Commission should conduct technical controls and stress tests as appropriate, as a means of increasing the use of IMI across the Union.
Amendment  8 Proposal for a regulation Recital 19 a (new)
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
	(19a) It should be possible to include IMI actors' counterparts from third countries in the IMI, provided that an international agreement has been concluded between the Union and the third countries concerned and provided that it has been established that the third countries concerned offer a sufficient level of protection of personal data, including meeting the requirements of Directive 95/46/EC.
Amendment  9 Proposal for a regulation Recital 21
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
(21) The Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty in respect of Union acts, among those listed in Annex II, in which provisions on administrative cooperation and information exchange can be implemented by means of IMI.	deleted
Amendment  10 Proposal for a regulation Article 1
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
This Regulation lays down rules for the use of an Internal Market Information System, hereinafter ‘IMI’, for administrative cooperation, including processing of personal data, among competent authorities in the Member States and the Commission.	This Regulation lays down rules for the use of an Internal Market Information System, hereinafter ‘IMI’, for administrative cooperation, including processing of personal data, among competent authorities in the Member States and the Commission. It shall be ensured that all personal data and information circulated among the different competent authorities is collected, processed and used for strictly legitimate purposes which are in line with data protection rules. Furthermore, all relevant safeguards against abuse of the system shall be firmly put in place.
Amendment  11 Proposal for a regulation Article 4 – title
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
Development of IMI	Expansion of IMI
Amendment  12 Proposal for a regulation Article 4 – paragraph 1
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
1. For the acts listed in Annex II to this Regulation, the Commission may decide that IMI shall be used, taking into account technical feasibility, cost-efficiency, user-friendliness and overall impact on the system. In such cases, the Commission shall be empowered to include those acts in Annex I following the procedure referred to in Article 23.	1. The Commission may propose an amendment to the Annex to this Regulation if it decides that IMI is to be used for new legal acts of the Union.
Amendment  13 Proposal for a regulation Article 4 – paragraph 2
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
2. The adoption of the delegated act may be preceded by a test phase (pilot project) of a limited duration involving several or all Member States.	2. Before submitting a proposal referred to in paragraph 1, the Commission may carry out pilot projects of a limited duration or impact assessment, including data protection, in order to assess whether IMI would be an effective tool for the implementation of provisions on administrative cooperation of internal market acts not yet listed in the Annex. The Commission shall decide which internal market acts are to be subject to a pilot project, and on the modalities of that project.
	2a. The Commission shall submit the results of the pilot project or of the impact assessment to the European Parliament and to the Council, and where appropriate, accompany them with a legislative proposal to amend the Annex for the expansion of IMI.
Amendment  14 Proposal for a regulation Article 5 – paragraph 2 – point a
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
(a) ‘Internal Market Information System’ (‘IMI’) means the electronic tool provided by the European Commission to facilitate administrative cooperation between national administrations and the Commission;	(a) ‘Internal Market Information System’ (‘IMI’) means the electronic tool provided by the European Commission to facilitate administrative cooperation among competent authorities or between competent authorities and the Commission;
Amendment  15 Proposal for a regulation Article 5 – paragraph 2 – point i
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
(i) ‘external actors’ means natural or legal persons other than IMI users that may use IMI through technical means and in accordance with a specific pre-defined workflow provided for this purpose;	(i) ‘external actors’ means natural or legal persons other than IMI users that may interact with IMI only through a separate technical system and in accordance with a specific pre-defined workflow provided strictly for this purpose;
Amendment  16 Proposal for a regulation Article 6 – paragraph -1 (new)
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
	-1. Member States shall take all necessary measures to ensure effective application of this Regulation by the competent authorities.
Amendment  17 Proposal for a regulation Article 7 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
1. Each Member State shall appoint one national IMI coordinator whose tasks shall include:	1. Each Member State shall appoint one national IMI coordinator whose responsibilities shall include:
Amendment  18 Proposal for a regulation Article 8 – paragraph -1 (new)
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
	-1. Competent authorities shall fulfil their obligations under this Regulation in the same way as they would if acting at the request of another competent authority within their own Member State.
Amendment  19 Proposal for a regulation Article 8 – paragraph 1
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
1. When cooperating by means of IMI, the competent authorities shall ensure that an adequate response is provided within the shortest possible period of time or within the deadline set by the applicable Union act, acting through IMI users in accordance with administrative cooperation procedures.	1. When cooperating by means of IMI, the competent authorities shall ensure that a response is provided without delay, subject to the provisions of, and within the deadline set by, the applicable legal act of the Union, acting through IMI users in accordance with administrative cooperation procedures.
Amendment  20 Proposal for a regulation Article 9
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
1. The Commission shall ensure the security, availability, maintenance and development of the software and IT infrastructure for IMI. It shall provide a multilingual system, training in cooperation with the Member States, and a helpdesk to assist Member States in the use of IMI.	1. The Commission shall be responsible for carrying out the following tasks:
	(a) to ensure the security, availability, maintenance and development of the software and IT infrastructure for IMI. It shall provide a multilingual system, translation functionalities, training in cooperation with the Member States, and a helpdesk to assist Member States in the use of IMI;
2. The Commission may participate in administrative cooperation procedures involving the processing of personal data where required by a Union act listed in Annex I.	(b) to participate in administrative cooperation procedures involving the processing of personal data where required by a legal act of the Union listed in the Annex;
3. The Commission shall register the national IMI coordinators and shall grant them access to IMI.	(c) to register the national IMI coordinators and shall grant them access to IMI;
4. The Commission shall perform processing operations on personal data in IMI where provided for in this Regulation.	(d) to perform processing operations on personal data in IMI where provided for in this Regulation in accordance with the purposes determined by the applicable legal acts of the Union listed in the Annex;
	(e) to monitor the application of this Regulation and report back to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Data Protection Supervisor in accordance with Article 26.
5. For the purposes of performing its tasks under this Article and for producing reports and statistics, the Commission shall have access to the necessary information relating to the processing operations performed in IMI.	5. For the purposes of performing its tasks under this Article and for producing reports and statistics, the Commission shall have access to the necessary information relating to the processing operations performed in IMI.
Amendment  21 Proposal for a regulation Article 10 – paragraph 2
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
2. Member States, in cooperation with the Commission, shall designate the IMI coordinators and competent authorities and the internal market areas in which they have competence.	2. Member States shall designate the IMI coordinators and competent authorities and the internal market areas in which they have competence. The Commission may play a consultative role in that process.
Amendment  22 Proposal for a regulation Article 10 – paragraph 7
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
7. External actors may use IMI with the technical means provided for this purpose, where necessary to facilitate administrative cooperation between competent authorities in Member States, or in order to exercise their rights as data subjects, or where otherwise provided for by a Union act.	7. External actors may interact with IMI only through a separate technical system provided strictly for this purpose, where necessary to facilitate administrative cooperation between competent authorities in Member States, or in order to exercise their rights as data subjects, or where otherwise provided for by a legal act of the Union. External actors shall only have access to a public interface, which is technically separate from the IMI application and does not provide access to personal data exchange between competent authorities.
Amendment  23 Proposal for a regulation Article 11 – paragraph 2
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
2. IMI actors shall ensure that requests of other IMI actors for confidential treatment of information exchanged by means of IMI are complied with by IMI users working under their authority.	2. IMI actors shall ensure that requests of other IMI actors for confidential treatment of information exchanged by means of IMI are respected by IMI users working under their authority.
Amendment  24 Proposal for a regulation Article 12
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
IMI shall be based on administrative cooperation procedures developed and updated for that purpose by the Commission, in close cooperation with the Member States.	IMI shall be based on administrative cooperation procedures defined, developed and updated for that purpose by the Commission in close cooperation with the Member States.
Amendment  25 Proposal for a regulation Article 13 – paragraph 1
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
1. Personal data processed in IMI shall be blocked at the latest eighteen months after the formal closure of an administrative cooperation procedure, unless blocking before that period is expressly requested by a competent authority, on a case-by-case basis.	1. Personal data processed in IMI shall be blocked in the system after a period of no longer than eighteen months after the formal closure of an administrative cooperation procedure, unless blocking before that period is expressly requested by a competent authority, on a case-by-case basis, or on the basis of the applicable legal act of the Union..
Amendment  26 Proposal for a regulation Article 13 – paragraph 2
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
2. Where an administrative cooperation procedure in IMI establishes a repository of information for future reference by IMI actors, the personal data included in such a repository may be processed for as long as it is needed for this purpose either with the consent of the data subject or where this is necessary to comply with a Union act.	2. Where an administrative cooperation procedure in IMI establishes a repository of information for future reference by IMI actors, the personal data included in such a repository may be processed for as long as it is needed for this purpose either with the consent of the data subject or where this is necessary to comply with a legal act of the Union. The storage of personal data included in the repository shall comply with the provisions of data protection set out in Union legislation, in particular in point (e) of Article 6(1) of Directive 95/46/EC and point (e) of Article 4(1) of Regulation 45/2001.
Amendment  27 Proposal for a regulation Article 13 – paragraph 5 a (new)
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
	5a. Where a case has been inactive for six months, or not formally closed after six months, IMI users and actors shall receive an automatic notification that the case has been inactive.
Amendment  28 Proposal for a regulation Article 16 – paragraph 1
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
1. The processing of personal data under this Regulation shall comply with the rules on data security adopted by the Commission further to Article 22 of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001.	1. The Commission shall ensure that personal data processed in IMI complies with the rules on data security adopted by the Commission further to Article 22 of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001.
Amendment  29 Proposal for a regulation Article 17 – paragraph 1
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
1. IMI actors shall ensure that data subjects are informed about processing of their personal data in IMI and that they have access to a privacy notice explaining their rights and how to exercise them, in accordance with Articles 10 or 11 of Directive 1995/46/EC and national legislation which is in accordance with that Directive.	1. IMI actors shall ensure that data subjects are informed about processing of their personal data in IMI within 30 days of such processing and that they have access to a privacy notice explaining their rights and how to exercise them, including the contact person and that person's contact details throughout the lifespan of their data in IMI, in accordance with Articles 10 or 11 of Directive 1995/46/EC and national legislation which is in accordance with that Directive.
Amendment  30 Proposal for a regulation Article 17 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
	1a. Data submitted by data subjects to IMI shall only be used for the purposes for which the data were submitted. Data subjects' consent shall also be required for extension of the use of those data to new areas or workflows.
Amendment  31 Proposal for a regulation Article 17 – paragraph 2 – point c a (new)
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
	(ca) types of administrative cooperation procedures, all IMI functionalities and categories of data that may be processed in IMI.
Amendment  32 Proposal for a regulation Article 18 – paragraph 1
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
1. IMI actors shall ensure that the data subject may effectively exercise the right of access to data relating to him or her, and the right to have inaccurate or incomplete data corrected and unlawfully processed data deleted, in accordance with national legislation. The correction and deletion shall be carried out within 60 days by the IMI actor responsible.	1. IMI actors shall ensure that the data subject may effectively exercise the right of access to data relating to him or her in IMI, and the right to have inaccurate or incomplete data corrected and unlawfully processed data deleted, in accordance with national legislation. The correction and deletion shall be carried out as soon as possible, and at the latest 30 days after the request of data subject is received, by the IMI actor responsible.
Amendment  33 Proposal for a regulation Article 23
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
Exercise of the delegation	deleted
1. The powers to adopt the delegated acts referred to in Article 4 shall be conferred on the Commission for an indeterminate period of time.
2. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.
3. The powers to adopt delegated acts are conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in Articles 24 and 25.
Amendment  34 Proposal for a regulation Article 24
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
Revocation of the delegation	deleted
1. The delegation of power referred to in Article 3 may be revoked by the European Parliament or by the Council.
2. The institution which has commenced an internal procedure for deciding whether to revoke the delegation of power shall inform the other legislator and the Commission at the latest one month before the final decision is taken, stating the delegated powers which could be subject to revocation and the reasons for a revocation.
3. The decision of a revocation shall put an end to the delegation of the powers specified in that decision. It shall take effect immediately or at a later data specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of the delegated acts already in force. It shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Amendment  35 Proposal for a regulation Article 25
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
Objections to delegated acts	deleted
1. The European Parliament and the Council may object to the delegated act within a period of two months from the date of notification. At the initiative of the European Parliament or the Council this period shall be extended by one month.
2. If, on expiry of that period, neither the European Parliament nor the Council has objected to the delegated act, or if, before that date, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they have decided not to raise objections, the delegated act shall enter into force at the date stated in its provisions.
3. If the European Parliament or the Council objects to the adopted delegated act, it shall not enter into force. The institution which objects shall state the reasons for objecting to the delegated act.
Amendment  36 Proposal for a regulation Article 26 – paragraph 3 a (new)
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
	3a. The Commission's internal control mechanisms shall include data privacy assessments, including a security risk analysis, on the basis of which a data protection policy (including a security plan) will be adopted, as well as periodic reviews and auditing.
Amendment  37 Proposal for a regulation Annex I – point 3 a (new)
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
	3a. Commission Recommendation of 7 December 2001 on principles for using 'SOLVIT' – the Internal Market Problem Solving Network: Chapters I and II1
	_____________
	1 OJ L 331, 15.12.2001, p. 79.
Amendment  38 Proposal for a regulation Annex II
Text proposed by the Commission	Amendment
	Annex deleted

• [1]  OJ C 43, 15.2.2012, p. 14.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

I. Commission proposal

Internal Market Information System (IMI) has been in use since 2008 as a free service to Member States in view of improving the exchange of information within the internal market. The system has proved itself as a fast and secure means for cross-border information exchange and administrative cooperation with currently over 6000 registered authorities in all the EU Member States and the EEA countries.

Currently applied for the exchange of information pursuant to Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 September 2005 on the recognition of professional qualifications (‘the Professional Qualifications Directive’) and Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on services in the internal market (‘the Services Directive’), the IMI system still operates on the basis of a Commission decision and a Commission recommendation, and as a result lacks a single leagal instrument. This has been seen as a major obstacle to further expansion of the IMI system, which has developed as an effective tool for different Member States administrative structures in their day-to-day cooperation with their counterparts in other Member States ensuring a proper channel of information exchange in different languages and guaranteeing at the same time a higher than traditional channels of communication level of data protection.

Diverse Commission communications pave way for futur expansion of IMI to other areas of EU law[1] and promote the establishment of a 'genuine face-to-face electronic network for European administrations'. As a result the Commission proposed in August 2011 the following regulation with a specific purpose of establishing a single legal framework for the IMI system together with a set of rules to ensure its appropriate functionning. This should allow the future expansion of IMI to other sectors of EU law and lay down clear set of rules in terms of its functioning and data protection processing.

II. Rapporteur's overall position

The Rapporteur welcomes the Commission's proposal to establish a set of common rules for the functioning of IMI. A smooth cross-border exchange of information between different authorities in the Member States is essential in our efforts to complete the Single Market. IMI has proven a reliable and efficient tool in the two areas in which it already has been operating, the Professional Qualifications Directive and the Services Directive, and the current proposal will allow to further exploit the IMI full potential with clear benefits for the citizens and the internal market.

IMI is a flexible tool which can be adjusted to specific requirements of various legislative areas and its using in a new consolidated form will not only allow for better data protection, but also will make it possible for competent authorities to communicate quicker or in a larger number of policy areas. Last but not least, it will allow for a better cooperation among local level authorities and their better involvement into the Single Market.

In drafting this report, the Rapporteur took into consideration the opinion of the European Data Protection Supervisor and the political commitment outlined on many occasions by the Presidency and the European Commission for a better governance of the Single Market and a strategy for further expanding the IMI System. The Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (Rapporteur: Hernández Bataller) was considered and the opinion of the Article 29 Working Party[2] was equally taken into account.

The Rapporteur has included in this draft report a relatively limited number of amendments with the view to improving transparency and legal certainty for the functioning of the IMI System.

(a) Development of the Internal Market Information System and its extension to other areas of Union law

Although the present proposal consolidates the current rules governing the IMI within a single horizontal legally binding instrument, the Rapporteur believes any future decisions on possible extension of IMI to new areas of Union law shall be approprietly considered on this stage. The European Parliament has often highlighted the importance of having a comprehensive legal framework for the functioning of IMI and the Rapporteur is strongly supportive to the Commission's proposal. Nevertheless, the Rapporteur wishes to express his reservations about the modification of the scope through delegated acts.

The list of areas of Union acts currently supported by IMI is set out in Annex I. Areas of possible future expansion are listed in Annex II. The Rapporteur believes the modification of the scope is an essential element of the proposal and thus recommends that any extension of the scope of IMI in the future should be subject to a new regulation proposal. As a result, the Rapporteur proposes to delete the reference to delegated acts and, as a consequence, also Annex II.

Moreover, the Rapporteur wishes to emphasise that, as justly observed in the EDPS opinion on the Commission proposal, we cannot exclude that "the idea to use IMI in a specific policy area may arise later in the legislative process, and may be proposed by the Parliament or by the Council"[3]. We have already witnessed such cases in the past, for example in case of the proposal on patients' rights in cross-border healthcare. In such cases the procedure to follow would have to be clarified since the Commission proposal foresees the expansion of the scope only through delegated acts.

Last but not least, extending the IMI to new policy areas in the future may require additional changes in the existing functionalities of the system; those would be then approprietly taken into account while applying the ordinary legislative procedure.

(b) Data processing and security - Retention of personal data

The Rapporteur wishes to emphasise that Article 13 of the regulation proposal introduces the blocking procedure after the period of eighteen months from the closure of an administrative cooperation procedure for personal data processed in IMI and substantially extends the data retention period from 6 months, as it is provided for in the Commission decision 2008/49 concerning the implementation of the Internal Market Information System (IMI) as regards the protection of personal data, to 5 years. The Rapporteur regrets that the modification is introduced to the proposal with no impact assessment nor sufficient justification for the necessity of such provision. The Commission has not provided any sufficient data to justify the extension of the already existing period of six months, and consequently no data is available to estimate if the new extension will be compatible with the existing national laws on data protection.

The Rapporteur also regrets that no detailed justification has been provided in terms of storage of blocked data on who and on which basis would be authorised to access the data during the storage period of five years. Moreover, as article 3 of the Proposal states the ''IMI shall be used for exchange of information between competent authorities in the Member States and the Commission necessary for the implementation of the internal market acts which provide for administrative cooperation, including the exchange of personal data'' thus, the IMI being determined as an IT tool for information exchange. Yet, introducing new functionalities in terms of retention of data and extending it to five years goes much beyond the initially prescribed scope. It seems that such provision may result in modifying the shape of the IMI from a tool to be used for exchange of information among Member States authorities into a database[4].

The Rapporteur shares the opinion of Data Protection Working Party and wishes to underline that the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC states that personal data must be kept ''no longer than it is necessary for the purposes for which the data were collected or for which they are further processed''[5].

Taking above mentioned concerns into account your Rapporteur proposes to keep the current period of retention of six months outlined in the Commission decision concerning the implementation of the IMI[6] and following the Commission statement in the explanatory memorandum of the proposal that the present IMI proposal "consolidates the current rules governing IMI within a single horizontal legally binding instrument"[7].

(c) Access rights of IMI actors and users - external actors

The Rapporteur welcomes the proposal of the Commission on the modalities of the functioning of the IMI within the administrations of the Member States but remains concerned about opening access to IMI, initially designed for the administrative authorities in Member States, to external actors. The Rapporteur regrets that no elements have been provided to assess the impact of such a modification and therefore remains concerned about how this intention could alter the practical side of functioning of the IMI and especially what would be the impact of such modification on the data protection and security, taking into account that the initial purpose of IMI was to allow the exchange of information among Member States authorities, and not between Member States authorities and individuals and various organisations.

Consequently, your Rapporteur believes that before opening the IMI to external actors, this issue should be further specified and explained.

III. Conclusion

The purpose of this report is to propose the amendments that the Rapporteur deems necessary for increasing the legal certainty of the proposal. While the Rapporteur reserves the right to table more amendments after having further examined the Commission’s proposal and conducted further consultations, his intention at this stage is to generate a fruitful discussion in the Committee.

• [1]  Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions ‘Towards a Single Market Act. For a highly competitive social market economy. 50 proposals for improving our work, business and exchanges with one another’, COM(2010) 608 final, proposal No 45 on p. 31.
• [2]  Opinion 01911/07/EN, WP 140.
• [3]  EDPS opinion, art. 2.2.1, point 22 - 24
• [4]  These concerns were also expressed in the EDPS opinion (p. 6) and the letter to Commissioner Barnier submitted by the ARTICLE 29 Data Protection Working Party.
• [5]  Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data; Article 6 e)
• [6]  Commission Decision 2008/49/EC of 12 December 2007 concerning the implementation of the Internal Market Information System (IMI) as regards the protection of personal data; Article 4.
• [7]  Commission Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on administrative cooperation through the Internal Market Information System COM (2011) 522 final; p.4, point 2 of the explanatory memorandum.

PROCEDURE

Title	Administrative cooperation through the Internal Market Information System (‘the IMI Regulation’)
References	COM(2011)0522 – C7-0225/2011 – 2011/0226(COD)
Date submitted to Parliament	29.8.2011
Committee responsible        Date announced in plenary	IMCO 13.9.2011
Committee(s) asked for opinion(s)        Date announced in plenary	LIBE 13.9.2011
Not delivering opinions        Date of decision	LIBE 29.9.2011
Rapporteur(s)        Date appointed	Adam Bielan 19.9.2011
Discussed in committee	5.12.2011	6.2.2012	19.3.2012
Date adopted	20.3.2012
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	36 0 1
Members present for the final vote	Pablo Arias Echeverría, Adam Bielan, Cristian Silviu Buşoi, Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, Sergio Gaetano Cofferati, Lara Comi, Anna Maria Corazza Bildt, António Fernando Correia de Campos, Cornelis de Jong, Christian Engström, Vicente Miguel Garcés Ramón, Evelyne Gebhardt, Małgorzata Handzlik, Iliana Ivanova, Philippe Juvin, Edvard Kožušník, Toine Manders, Hans-Peter Mayer, Mitro Repo, Zuzana Roithová, Heide Rühle, Christel Schaldemose, Andreas Schwab, Catherine Stihler, Gino Trematerra, Emilie Turunen, Bernadette Vergnaud, Barbara Weiler
Substitute(s) present for the final vote	Raffaele Baldassarre, Nessa Childers, Frank Engel, Marielle Gallo, Evgeni Kirilov, Morten Løkkegaard, Konstantinos Poupakis, Ivo Strejček, Sabine Verheyen
Date tabled	23.3.2012