European Union News - 23 November 2012

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) adopted a Policy on Consultations in the field of Supervision & Enforcement which provides guidance to EU institutions and bodies and Data Protection Officers (DPOs) on consulting the EDPS when drawing up measures or internal rules which involve the processing of personal information.

Following the outcome of a co-ordinated "Sweep" investigation in which national enforcement authorities checked 565 websites across the 27 Member States, Norway and Iceland, the European Commission now published that up to date figures show that over 75% of websites checked now give satisfactory information to clients, while in September 2011, 70% of these sites (393) were flagged for further investigation.

The report on the state of the Schengen area was published by the European Commission. Among the conclusions, the Commission highlights that the Visa Information System (VIS) has worked well but the European institution will continue to find ways to improve the data collection and analysis of irregular migratory movements.

The European Parliament approved the reform of the law that allows exceptions to cut off shark fins and dumping carcasses at sea. The ban, in place since 2003, prohibited removing shark fins on board vessels.

The loan granted to the Spain’s Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO) by the European Investment Bank (EIB) will be allocated to finance small and medium-scale projects carried out by SMEs, mainly in convergence regions in Spain. ICO will match the EIB loan with the same amount, meaning that a total of €1 billion will be pumped into the small business sector.