EU data law draft uses language from US, EU corporations

[YMix]

Ars recently reported on intense efforts by American tech firms and lobbying groups to influence data protection reforms being debated in Brussels. Now, a new European activist group has published evidence illustrating that significant proposed revisions have been introduced, nearly wholesale, via model legislation written by American and European corporate interests.

This disclosure comes during an ever-intensifying level of political debate in Brussels that could have a substantial impact on how American tech companies—notably Amazon, Facebook, Google, and many others—operate in the European Union.

The watchdog project, known as LobbyPlag, shows verbatim contributions from US and EU corporate interests showing up in the opinion amendment already approved (PDF) last month by the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) committee. The documents’ publication has caused ripples amongst other members of European Parliament (MEPs), as well as many digital and privacy advocates in Brussels.

“We need a more balanced approach—people need to be aware that their privacy rules are being decided by a group of business people,” said Jan Philipp Albrecht, a German Green Party MEP. “And that's not what [citizens] expect the European Union to do.”

Over the weekend, one of the biggest champions for data protection reform, Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding, said there had even been lobbying efforts that would outright exempt American companies from the proposed EU law. “Exempting non-EU companies from our data protection regulation is not on the table. It would mean applying double standards,” Reding told the Financial Times on Sunday.

“Data protection is a fundamental right in Europe which is clearly enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights," Reding continued. "Whilst this may not be the case in other parts of the world, one thing is clear: if companies want to tap into the European market, they have to apply European standards.”

LobbyPlag shows there are also notable similarities between draft opinions from the four other committees, which are currently considering their own legislative suggestions as part of the data protection reform process that began in early 2012. The European Commission sent those proposals to the European Parliament, which is now in the process of making its own revisions.

These lobbying efforts are remarkably similar to what happens in the US with groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative legislative lobbying group that provides “model legislation.”

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More at the link.