ADVERTISEMENTEU governments on Monday backed sweeping changes to the bloc’s data protection laws, saying there should be one set of rules for all 28 member states.
The move came at a meeting of EU interior ministers in Luxembourg as how Internet giants such as Google and Facebook continues to come under intense scrutiny from European lawmakers.
Under the plans, companies would only to deal with data protection regulators in the country where they have their main EU base.
They also formally include a right to be forgotten, which would give consumers the ability to have old information about them removed from search engine results.
“The data protection regulation will establish a single set of rules on data protection, valid across the EU – so no more fragmentation of the rules per member state,” said Věra Jourová, the EU justice commissioner.
Some changes might still be made to the draft legislation, however.
According to EU rules, the 28 member states will now negotiate over the text with members of the European Parliament.
It is widely expected that all parties will be able to strike an agreement by the end of this year.