The European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (LIBE) is being seen to make slow progress on the proposed Data Protection Regulation, which has the potential to impact on the ability of VPH members to access data.
While an exchange of views on the Draft Report by the MEP leading the dossier, Mr Jan-Philipp Albrecht (Greens/EFA, Germany) was expected in September, no such debate has taken place.
Additionally, although a vote in the LIBE Committee is still scheduled for October, it appears that little progress has been made towards a compromise between the various political groups.
The VPH policy affairs working group, has been working to ensure that the needs of researchers are taken into account in the discussions on how best to protect citizens’ data. Back in June, the group submitted a position paper to key members of the LIBE Committee, stressing the need for appropriate access to data to ensure that medical research in Europe can continue unimpeded.
In the absence of any fast agreement between the political groups, it is not expected that this dossier will be finalised before the European Parliamentary elections in 2014.
