EU's Justice Council agrees on "one stop shop" mechanism on data protection

Ministers from the Justice Council of the European Union (EU) agreed on what it's calling the "one stop shop" mechanism, part of the EU framework for data protection on Friday.

Under the "one stop shop" system, data protection authorities would cooperate and make joint decisions in the hope that this would help cut costs of data protection regulations for international business and contribute to the growth of the digital economy. It noted, however, that it should only play a role in important cross-border cases.

The council already expressed its support for this initiative in October and December 2013 whereby transnational cases would be determined in a single supervisory decision, which should be fast, ensure consistent application, provide legal certainty, and reduce administrative burden.

The ministers also agreed on the general principles for processing personal data, another part of the data protection regulation being discussed, and established a set of principles for lawful, fair and transparent data processing.

"The approach we have reached on new data protection rules creates protection for citizens' rights more effectively," said Dzintars Rasnacs, the Latvian minister for justice and president of the justice council. Endit