Considerations on COM(2018)636 - Verification procedure on infringements of data protection rules in the context of European elections - Contribution to the Leaders’ meeting, September 2018

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dossier COM(2018)636 - Verification procedure on infringements of data protection rules in the context of European elections - Contribution to the ...
document COM(2018)636 EN
date March 25, 2019
 
table>(1)Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) established a specific European legal status for European political parties and European political foundations and provides for their funding from the general budget of the European Union. It also established an Authority for European political parties and European political foundations (‘the Authority’).
(2)In order to enable the Authority to fully fulfil its tasks, including the new ones provided for in this Regulation, and to enable it to do so in an independent manner, it is necessary to staff it in a permanent way and to confer the powers of an appointing authority on the Director of the Authority.

(3)Recent events have demonstrated the potential risks to electoral processes and to democracy that can arise from the unlawful use of personal data. It is therefore necessary to protect the integrity of the European democratic process by providing for financial sanctions in situations where European political parties or European political foundations take advantage of infringements of rules on protection of personal data with a view to influencing the outcome of elections to the European Parliament.

(4)To that end, a verification procedure should be established whereby the Authority must, in certain circumstances, ask the committee of independent eminent persons established by Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 to assess whether a European political party or a European political foundation has deliberately influenced or attempted to influence the outcome of elections to the European Parliament by taking advantage of an infringement of the applicable rules on protection of personal data. Where, in accordance with the verification procedure, that is found to be the case, the Authority should impose sanctions under the effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctioning system established by Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014.

(5)When the Authority imposes a sanction on a European political party or foundation in accordance with the verification procedure, it should take due account of the ne bis in idem principle, whereby sanctions cannot be imposed twice for the same offence. The Authority should also ensure that the principle of legal certainty is respected and that the European political party or European political foundation concerned has been given the opportunity to be heard.

(6)The new procedure should exist alongside the current procedures used for the verification of compliance with registration conditions and in cases of manifest and serious breaches of the values on which the Union is founded. However, the time limits for verification of compliance with registration conditions and requirements set in Article 10 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 should not apply to the new procedure.

(7)Since the new procedure is triggered by a decision of a competent national data protection supervisory authority, it should be possible for the European political party or European political foundation concerned to request that the sanction be reviewed if the decision of that national supervisory authority is repealed, or a remedy against that decision has been granted, provided that all national remedies have been exhausted.

(8)In order to ensure that the 2019 elections to the European Parliament take place in accordance with strong democratic rules and in full respect of the European values of democracy, rule of law and respect of fundamental rights, it is important that the provisions on the new verification procedure enter into force in timely manner and that the procedure applies as soon as possible. In order to achieve this, the amendments to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 introduced by this Regulation should enter into force on the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

(9)Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 should therefore be amended accordingly,