Ahead of the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council meeting of December 4th, businesses from across all sectors of the European economy reiterate their concerns about the proposal for an ePrivacy Regulation. Despite ongoing negotiations in the Council, the text remains far from addressing the many substantive issues that have been raised since the proposal was first put forward. The expanded scope of the ePrivacy proposal would create a large overlap with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), effectively replacing large portions of the GDPR for a vast majority of data processing activities. This goes well beyond the traditional telecoms or online sectors and would apply broadly to all products and services in Europe’s connected society, including the energy sector amongst many others.
At a time when practical application of the GDPR has just commenced, companies from different sectors have received no clarity as to how ePrivacy would apply to existing and emerging technologies and services. Proceeding on the basis of an incomplete understanding of the proposal’s impact will only damage Europe’s digital transformation, from both an economic and societal standpoint.