Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The EU Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties supported Bruno Gencarelli for a five-year period as the supervisor of the union’s privacy watchdog.
Bruno Gencarelli, as European data protection supervisor (EDPS), would be tasked with keeping the EU institutions‘ handling of personal data in assessment, effectively conducting privacy protection across the European Union.
A hearing of each candidate followed, and LIBE decided on each of the candidates as follows: Bruno Gencarelli won first place, followed by François Pellegrin, the current Chair of International Data Flows and Protection at the Directorate General for Justice and Consumers (DG JUST), with 32 votes, François Pellegrini was second with 30, Wojciech Wiewiórowski came in third with 26; and Ana Pouliou was third with 11.
Role of the Supervisor:
The European Data Protection Supervisor is an independent authority of the EU. It concerns data protection. It mainly aims at oversight and provision of protection of personal data and privacy through the processing of personal data about individuals within institutions and bodies of the European Union. In addition, on request or on its own initiative, it advises the EU institutions and bodies on all matters in relation to processing personal data.
In particular, they are consulted by the European Commission on proposals for legislation, international agreements, as well as implementing and delegated acts with an impact on data protection and privacy. It monitors new technology that may concern the protection of personal information and intercedes before the Court of Justice of the EU to deliver expert advice on interpreting data protection law.