On May 15, 2018, the Senate passed the General Data Protection Regulation Implementation Act (UAVG) bill as a hammer piece.
Author: Anke van de Laar, Michael Reker
Among other things, the UAVG regulates the repeal of the Personal Data Protection Act (Wbp), as well as the designation of the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP) as the supervisor referred to in Article 51 of the General Data Protection Regulation (AVG).
According to the explanatory memorandum to the UAVG, the UAVG's starting point is policy-neutral implementation with respect to the existing situation. This means that existing law is maintained unless this is not possible under the AVG. From that point of view, among other things, it has been chosen to preserve as much as possible the existing possibilities for processing special personal data in the PDPA. After all, these existing restrictions were included in the Wbp for compelling social interests. The AVG leaves room in Article 9 to limit various possibilities for processing special personal data. In Articles 22 to 30 UAVG, the exceptions to the ban on processing special personal data can be found.
Pursuant to Article 16 UAVG, the AP is authorized to impose an administrative coercion order to enforce the AVG or the UAVG. Pursuant to Article 5:32 of the General Administrative Law Act (Awb), the person authorized to impose an administrative coercive order may impose an order for incremental penalty payments instead. The order under penalty is therefore also part of the AP's toolbox. This in addition to imposing the now much-discussed high fines. Like the Wpb, the UAVG incidentally provides that the effect of the decision imposing the administrative fine is suspended until the objection or appeal period has expired or, if an objection has been lodged or an appeal has been lodged, until the objection or appeal has been decided.
One of these days the promulgation in the Official Gazette will take place, after which the UAVG will enter into force on May 25, 2018. On that date, the AVG will also take effect. This completes the legislative process of the UAVG just in time for the May 25 deadline. That did not happen in all 28 EU countries. In fact, it appears that as many as 14 countries will not have completed the legislative path in time. These include countries that are expected to be ready by the end of May/early June 2018, but also countries that are likely to need even more time (Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Slovenia).
This article can also be found in the AVG file
