Following a meeting of EU justice ministers in Vilnius on Friday, European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Viviane Reding said that the talks could be finished as early as this year. But Germany has doubts about that, saying that new legislation could be adopted next year.
"Concerning the new legislation, it has become very clear today that two lawmakers - the Council on the one hand and the European Parliament on the other - want to conclude their work and negotiate already during the presidency in the next six months," Reding said after the meeting.
She also underlined that new legislation would not need unanimity, just majority support.
The issue of data protection became a burning issue on the EU agenda following media reports of large-scale US online spying and alleged bugging of EU institutions.
Earlier in the day, Germany and France called for discussions at the ongoing meeting of EU justice ministers in Vilnius on measures to ensure data protection in response to alleged US large-scale spying in Europe.
Nevertheless, German Federal Minister of Justice Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said after the meeting that new rules would most probably be adopted next year.
"I hope the process could be finished and these directives adopted in 2014. There are some colleagues in the Council, they wanted to finish and to adopt them this year. I think that this is perhaps a problem because we have a lot of amendments and improvements, so I think in 2014," the minister told BNS.
Lithuanian Justice Minister Juozas Bernatonis, who chaired the meeting, said the legislation under consideration are not new and added that the recent events should hasten the talks.
"In the wake of the recent events, the ministers agreed that the regulation should be discussed faster," Lithuanian Justice Minister Juozas Bernatonis told a press conference on Friday.
Call for response to spying
Before the meeting, Germany and France have called for discussions on measures to ensure data protection in response to alleged US large-scale spying in Europe.
A document, signed by two ministers, states that people should have the right to know which personal data are collected by telecommunications companies, to what extent the data is transferred to foreign public authorities and for what purposes.
"We are very concerned by the recent revelations about the US surveillance program, called PRISM, that already provoked strong reactions amongst European citizens, member states and European authorities," the document reads.
"The current negotiations on the EU Data Protection Regulation are directly linked to these issues. Considering the importance of the stakes and the great expectations of our citizens, our intention is to establish adequate safeguards with regards to the current revelations, and to adopt quickly these new rules," German federal Minister of Justice Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger and French Minister of Justice Christiane Taubira said in the document.
