(1)

Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (1) is to be incorporated into the EEA Agreement.

(2)

Recognising that data protection is a fundamental right protected in various international human rights agreements.

(3)

Recognising the importance of equal rights and obligations of data controllers and processors within the EEA.

(4)

This Decision provides that the supervisory authorities of the EFTA States shall participate fully in the one-stop-shop and the consistency mechanism and shall, but for the right to vote and to stand for election as chair or deputy chairs of the European Data Protection Board (the ‘Board’), established by Regulation (EU) 2016/679, have the same rights and obligations as supervisory authorities of the EU Member States in that Board. To that effect, the supervisory authorities of the EFTA States shall be included in the activities of the Board, including those of any sub-group that the Board may establish to carry out its work, and receive all information necessary to enable their effective participation including, as necessary, by means of full access to any electronic system for information exchange that may be set up by the Board.

(5)

Regulation (EU) 2016/679 repeals Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (2), which is incorporated into the EEA Agreement and which is consequently to be repealed under the EEA Agreement.

(6)

Annex XI and Protocol 37 to the EEA Agreement should therefore be amended accordingly,

(a)

The supervisory authorities of the EFTA States shall participate in the activities of the European Data Protection Board, hereinafter referred to as “the Board”. To that effect, they shall, but for the right to vote and to stand for election as chair or deputy chairs of the Board, have the same rights and obligations as supervisory authorities of the EU Member States in the Board, unless otherwise provided in this Agreement. The positions of the supervisory authorities of the EFTA States shall be recorded separately by the Board.

The rules of procedures of the Board shall give full effect to the participation of the supervisory authorities of the EFTA States and the EFTA Surveillance Authority with the exception of voting rights and to stand for election as chair or deputy chairs of the Board.

(b)

Notwithstanding the provisions of Protocol 1 to this Agreement, and unless otherwise provided for in this Agreement, the terms “Member State(s)” and “supervisory authorities” shall be understood to include, in addition to their meaning in the Regulation, the EFTA States and their supervisory authorities, respectively.

(c)

References to Union law or Union data protection provisions shall be understood as referring to the EEA Agreement or data protection provisions contained therein, respectively.

(d)

In Articles 13(1)(f) and 14(1)(f), as regards the EFTA States, the words “applicable pursuant to the EEA Agreement” shall be inserted after the words “adequacy decision by the Commission”.

(e)

In Article 45, as regards the EFTA States, the following shall be inserted after paragraph 1:

(f)

Whenever the EU enters into consultations with third countries or international organisations with the aim of adopting an adequacy decision pursuant to Article 45, the EFTA States shall be kept duly informed. In cases where the third country or the international organisation undertakes specific obligations regarding the processing of personal data from the member states, the EU will take into account the situation of EFTA States and discuss with third countries or international organisation possible mechanisms for subsequent possible application by the EFTA States.

(g)

In Article 46(2)(d) the following shall be added:

“The supervisory authorities of the EFTA States shall have the same right as EU supervisory authorities to submit standard data protection clauses to the Commission for approval pursuant to the examination procedure referred to in Article 93(2).”.

(h)

In Article 46, as regards the EFTA States, the following paragraph shall be inserted after paragraph 2:

(i)

In Article 58(4), as regards the EFTA States, the words “in accordance with the Charter” shall not apply.

(j)

In Article 59, the words “, to the EFTA Surveillance Authority” shall be inserted after the words “to the Commission”.

(k)

The EFTA Surveillance Authority shall have the right to participate in the meetings of the Board without voting right. The EFTA Surveillance Authority shall designate a representative.

(l)

Where it is relevant to the exercise of its functions under Article 109 of this Agreement, the EFTA Surveillance Authority shall have the right to request advice or opinions from, and to communicate matters to, the Board pursuant to Articles 63, 64(2), 65(1)(c) and 70(1)(e). In Articles 63, 64(2), 65(1)(c), and 70(1)(e), the words “and, where relevant, the EFTA Surveillance Authority” shall be added after the words “the Commission”.

(m)

The Chair of the Board, or the secretariat, shall communicate to the EFTA Surveillance Authority the activities of the Board, where relevant pursuant to Articles 64(5)(a) and (b), 65(5), and 75(6)(b). In Articles 64(5)(a) and (b), 65(5), and 75(6)(b), the words “and, where relevant, the EFTA Surveillance Authority” shall be added after the words “the Commission”.

Where it is relevant to the exercise of its functions under Article 109 of this Agreement, the EFTA Surveillance Authority shall have the right to receive information from a supervisory authority of one of EFTA States concerned pursuant to Article 66(1). In Article 66(1) the words “and, where relevant, the EFTA Surveillance Authority” shall be added after the words “the Commission”.

(n)

In Article 71(1), the words “, to the Standing Committee of the EFTA States, to the EFTA Surveillance Authority” shall be inserted after the words “to the Council”.

(o)

In Article 73(1), the following sentence shall be added:

“The EFTA States' members of the Board shall not be eligible to be elected as chair or deputy chairs.”.’.