The Official Journal of the European Union, OJEU has published on January, 16th 2009 the Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council of January 14th, appointing Mr. Peter Hustinx as the new European Data Protection Supervisor.

Following the provisions set by Regulation (EC) Nº 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of December 18th 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data the new European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) and the Assistant Supervisor has been appointed by common accord between the European Parliament and the Council, for a period of five years .

The European Parliament and the Council have agreed to reappoint Mr. Peter Hustinx as EDPS for a second term of office. They have also appointed Giovanni Buttarelli as Assistant Supervisor for the same five-year term. He will replace Joaquin Bayo Delgado who decided not to run for a second mandate.

• Mr. Peter Hustinx has served as EDPS since January 2004, contributing to the building of the new supervisory authority and developing its role at Community level.
• Giovanni Buttarelli has been a member of the Italian judiciary since 1986, and Secretary General of the Italian Data Protection Authority since 1997. In 2002-2003, he served as President of the Joint Supervisory Authority set up in pursuance of the Schengen Agreement, after being its Vice-President in 2000-2001. He has represented Italy in many committees and working groups operating in the field of data protection, both at the level of the European Union (EU) and at the Council of Europe.

This appointment will be effective from the day of the adoption of such Decision, and the mandate period will last from January 17th 2009 to January 16th 2014.

The European Data Protection Supervisor

The EDPS is an independent authority of the same nature than Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) in Member States, which ensures the right to protection of personal data in the EU administration.

The EDPS hears and investigates complaints, conducts inquiries and prior checks, publishes papers on different aspects of data protection relevant to his work and thus aims to promote a “data protection culture” in EC institutions and bodies. Within this framework, the EDPS has recently published his opinion on major policy and legislative developments such as the safer internet for children or the proposal for Regulation for the inclusion of biometrics in passports.

An annual report of activities is published each year. A press service deals with media contacts and promotes EDPS advice in press releases and in newsletters. This website serves as the main tool for external communication.