MEPs choose Wiewiórowski to be the EU’s data protection watchdog

MEPs chose their order of preference of the candidates for the position of European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) in a secret ballot on Tuesday morning: Wojciech Wiewiórowski from Poland was selected as the top candidate with 36 votes, Yann Padova from France gained 25 votes and Endre Szabó from Hungary obtained 3 votes. Yesterday, the Civil Liberties Committee quizzed the three candidates in a public hearing to evaluate their suitability for the post. More information about the hearing and the EDPS candidates’ answers to written questions posed by the Civil Liberties Committee are available here. Next steps The European Data Protection Supervisor will be jointly appointed by common accord of the European Parliament and the Council for a term of five years. The Civil Liberties Committee Chair will convey the outcome of the Civil Liberties Committee vote to the Conference of Presidents (EP President and the leaders of the political groups). Following their confirmation, the Parliament and the Council will proceed to formally appoint the new European Data Protection Supervisor. Background information on the European Data Protection Supervisor The European Data Protection Supervisor is the EU’s independent data protection authority. It supervises how the EU institutions and bodies process personal data to ensure compliance with privacy rules and advises them on all aspects of personal data processing and related policies and legislation. The EDPS also works with the national authorities of EU countries to ensure consistency in data protection.