20 Initiativen

Transparency stands as a cornerstone among the core values of EDPS. It steers the overall approach to our tasks and shapes our demeanour in fulfilling our duties and responsibilities. As we commemorate the 20th anniversary of the EDPS, we aspire to elevate this pledge further to our stakeholders and EU citizens. We will evaluate and disclose previously unreleased documents of the last two decades, starting with the present mandate, thereby fostering openness and accountability.

The EDPS is boosting its commitment to enhancing international capabilities in monitoring technological developments and its capacity to respond to the challenges posed by new technologies to privacy and data protection rights. This initiative focuses on expanding EDPS' capabilities in technology monitoring and foresight while actively promoting cooperation among regulatory authorities and other international stakeholders.

The EDPS and the World Bank will co-host the 2024 edition of the International Organisations Workshop on Data Protection (IOW) on 23 and 24 September 2024 in Washington, D.C. This event will gather International Organisations from all over the world and, for the first time ever, the IOW will be organised outside of Europe. In the year of its 20th Anniversary, this edition of the IOW will underscore the EDPS’ commitment to enhancing the global dimension of this initiative and acting as a catalyst for promoting the implementation of data protection principles worldwide.

The framework for interoperability in Justice and Home Affairs allowing the connection of EU large-scale information systems (databases in the fields of borders, visa, police and judicial cooperation, asylum and migration) will progressively enter into operation as from 2024. This interoperability architecture will lead to the large scale processing of personal data of non-EU nationals, who travel or intend to travel to the EU. The EDPS is preparing to protect the rights of these individuals, by effectively supervising this new framework.

The EDPS is set to launch a campaign to raise EU institutions’, bodies’, offices’ and agencies’ (EUIs) awareness on how to manage personal data breaches. Despite the growing number of cybersecurity incidents affecting personal data, nearly one-third of the EUIs have never notified any personal data breach to the EDPS, whilst one third has only notified 1 or 2 personal data breaches.

Any legislative proposal that implies the processing of personal data must comply with individuals’ right to respect for private and family life and the right to the protection of personal data.  In our role as advisor to the European Commission, European Parliament and Council, the EDPS has developed draft Guidance for co-legislators on the main elements to consider when developing legislative proposals that imply the processing of personal data.

The EDPS is launching a call for applications to support independent research projects on privacy and data protection. Applications are open to individuals who have initiated an independent research project that aims to strengthen the fundamental rights to privacy and the protection of personal data. The EDPS will support the development of the selected research projects by offering its expertise in the areas of law, policy, and technology.

The public's trust in data protection is critically dependent on how well infringements on individuals’ privacy are managed. Traditionally, the EDPS has processed complaints internally, with minimal visibility provided to the EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies (EUIs) and the wider public.

One of the EDPS’ mission is to promote a strong data protection culture inside the EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies (EUIs). To achieve this, one of our key task is to carry out audits and inspections, which are crucial to preserve high data protection standards. Traditionally, some audit reports and their executive summaries are shared with the public in annual reports or used for internal evaluations. However, we acknowledge that for us to evolve as a modern, highly efficient organisation, we need to be more transparent in our processes and outcomes.