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Regulation amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 as regards a verification procedure related to infringements of personal data in the context of the European Parliament elections

In “Area of Justice and Fundamental Rights”

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For a brief overview of the key points of the adopted text and its significance for the citizen, please see the corresponding summary note.

In the context of the last State of the Union speech before the 2019 European elections, the Commission proposed a package focusing on Free and fair European elections with one regulation with legislative amendment and three documents including non-legislative measures. These proposals appear in the context of the recent cases of citizens being targeted by mass online disinformation campaigns with the aim to discredit and delegitimise elections; alleged illegal misuse of peoples' personal data; and attacks against electoral infrastructure and campaign information systems. The documents are part of the broader security package, but with a particular focus on better protecting EU democratic processes from manipulation by third countries or private interests and strengthening the resilience of the Union's democratic systems. They are also a continuation of the EU action to protect personal data of citizens, especially the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (see the file on GDPR on this platform), the wide-ranging set of measures to build strong cybersecurity in the EU, and the ongoing efforts to tackle disinformation online.

The proposal for a Regulation as regards a verification procedure related to infringements of personal data in the context of the European Parliament elections was presented on 12 September 2018. It amends the Regulation No 1141/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations. The amendments include changes regarding the introduction of a verification procedure and sanctions related to infringements of rules on the protection of personal data by a European political party or a European political foundation in the context of elections to the European Parliament, as well as relevant staff changes of the Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. The amendments aim to allow financial sanctions on European political parties or foundations that use infringements of data protection rules to deliberately influence or attempt to influence the outcome of elections to the European Parliament.

The legislative proposal is accompanied by:

- Communication on Securing free and fair European elections (COM (2018) 637): it seeks to promote a more transparent, trustworthy and accountable online environment with one of its key deliverables to be the development of an ambitious Code of Practice on Disinformation committing online platforms and advertising industry to ensuring transparency and restricting targeting options for political advertising (published in September 2018). It reiterates the application of the data protection rules in the electoral process; enhancing online transparency, protection against cybersecurity incidents and fighting disinformation campaigns; and strengthening the rules on funding of European political parties. Member States are also encouraged to apply the principles to other elections and referenda they organise at national level.

- Commission Recommendation on election cooperation networks, online transparency and protection against cybersecurity incidents in the context of the European Parliament elections (C (2018) 5949): Member States are encouraged to set up a national election cooperation network of relevant authorities – such as electoral, cybersecurity, data protection and law enforcement authorities – and to appoint a contact point to participate in a European-level election cooperation network. This will enable authorities to quickly detect potential threats, exchange information and ensure a swift and well-coordinated response

- Guidance document on the application of Union data protection law in the electoral context (COM (2018) 638): The guidance will help national authorities and European and national political parties to apply the data protection obligations under EU law in the electoral context. The GDPR applies since May 2018 and also covers all European and national political parties and other actors in the electoral context like data brokers and social media platforms. In light of the Cambridge Analytica case and more generally the growing impact of micro-targeting of voters based on their personal data, the Commission recalls the data protection obligations for all actors in the European elections

The European Parliament Committee responsible for the legislative proposal for a Regulation as regards infringements of personal data in the context of the European Parliament elections (2018/0336(COD)), as well as for the Securing free and fair European elections (COM (2018) 637) and for the recommendation on election cooperation networks, online transparency and protection against cybersecurity incidents (C (2018) 5949) was the Constitutional Affairs committee (AFCO). On 24 September 2018, the Committee appointed Rainer Wieland (EPP) and Mercedes Bresso (S&D) as co-rapporteurs on the legislative proposal. Amendments were tabled on 23 November 2018, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs submitted its opinion on 5 December. On 6 December, the AFCO adopted a report with the decision to open interinstitutional negotiations and the report was tabled for plenary. On 29 January, the provisional agreement resulting from interinstitutional negotiations has been approved in the Committee.

In its Plenary on 12 March 2019, the European Parliament adopted the text with few amendments, in particular regarding infringement. On 19 March, the Regulation has been adopted by the Council. It was signed on 25 March and on 27 March 2019 was published in Official Journal.

References:

Further reading:

Author: Alina Dobreva, Members' Research Service, legislative-train@europarl.europa.eu

As of 20/11/2019.