EFDPO welcomes EDPB’s focus on the designation and position of data protection officers

Sep 16, 2022

Press Release

The designation and position of data protection officers (DPOs) will be the focus of the second coordinated enforcement action by European data protection supervisory authorities. This was announced by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) following its plenary meeting on September 12 and 13, 2022. Details are to be specified in the coming months. The outcome report is expected to be adopted by the end of the year.

“We welcome that the supervisory authorities in Europe will dedicate their attention to the designation and position of data protection officers,” says Thomas Spaeing, president of the European Federation of Data Protection Officers (EFDPO). “While some member countries of the European Union have had experience with the role of data protection officers for many years, the job profile is still relatively young in other member states. Accordingly, the approach to the designation and position of data protection officers is often also quite different. We are pleased that information is now being collected and analyzed in this regard, which will then enable further harmonization in Europe in the future. The role of DPOs in designing data protection strategies and in company-specific compliance solutions cannot be overemphasized. The EFDPO as the European expert network of data protection officers is always available for further dialogue on this issue with the EDPB.”

Based in Brussels, the EFDPO is the European umbrella association of data protection officers and privacy professionals. It is a network of currently 12 national DPO associations set up to exchange information, experience and methods, to establish a continuous dialogue with the political sphere, business representatives and civil society. By doing so, the EFDPO ensures a flow of information from the European to the national level and proactively monitors, evaluates and shapes the implementation of the GDPR and other European privacy legal acts. EFDPO aims to create awareness for the crucial role of DPOs, promote further professionalization in this occupational field and as a result strengthen data protection as a competitive advantage for Europe.

EFDPO contacts:

European Federation of Data Protection Officers AISBL, Rue de Namur 73A, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
EFDPO Press Office, phone +49 30 20 62 14 41, email: office@efdpo.eu, www.efdpo.eu

President: Thomas Spaeing (Germany); Vice Presidents: Xavier Leclerc (France – UDPO), Judith Leschanz (Austria), Inês Oliveira (Portugal), Vladan Rámiš (Czech Republic); Secretary General: Pierre-Yves Lastic (France)

Recent news