FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION SEEN THROUGH THE LENSES OF THE 2012 DATA PROTECTION REFORM PROPOSAL

Due to the fact that technological progress and globalization have profoundly changed the way our personal data is collected and processed, in January 2012, the European Commission has proposed a comprehensive reform on the European Union’s data protection rules. The reform package consists of a proposal for a General Data Protection Regulation, meant to replace the 1995 Data Protection Directive, as well as a new Data Protection Directive which shall provide for data protection in the areas of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. This reform initiative came as response to major critics according to which the 1995 rules on data protection have not been implemented in a uniform and efficient way by the EU Member States and, therefore, the rules need to be modernized in order to better respond to the current needs of the digital age. Supporters of the reform put forward that this reform is also needed due to the fact that data protection has acquired the status of a separate fundamental right in the EU, in the Charter of Fundamental Rights (article 8), which is distinct to the right to respect for private and family life. In this context, the study aims to answer whether the new reform legislation has the potential to augment the internal market dimension of data protection, increase the effectiveness of the fundamental right to data and, at the same time, enhance the coherence of the EU data protection framework. With this objective in mind, the study will present and analyze the EU standards regarding data protection and analyze some of the main items of the proposed reform. It will also provide an overview of the best practices in the Member States and the deficiencies that need to be taken into consideration by policy makers in order to achieve more efficient results. The study will also present and evaluate some of the most relevant jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and European Court of Justice in the field of data protection and human rights.