Article 75 GDPR

← Article 75 - Secretariat →
Chapter 1: General provisions Article 1: Subject-matter and objectives Article 2: Material scope Article 3: Territorial scope Article 4: Definitions Chapter 2: Principles Article 5: Principles relating to processing of personal data Article 6: Lawfulness of processing Article 7: Conditions for consent Article 8: Conditions applicable to child’s consent in relation to information society services Article 9: Processing of special categories of personal data Article 10: Processing of personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences Article 11: Processing which does not require identification Chapter 3: Rights of the data subject Article 12: Transparent information, communication and modalities for the exercise of the rights of the data subject Article 13: Information to be provided where personal data are collected from the data subject Article 14: Information to be provided where personal data have not been obtained from the data subject Article 15: Right of access by the data subject Article 16: Right to rectification Article 17: Right to erasure (‘right to be forgotten’) Article 18: Right to restriction of processing Article 19: Notification obligation regarding rectification or erasure of personal data or restriction of processing Article 20: Right to data portability Article 21: Right to object Article 22: Automated individual decision-making, including profiling Article 23: Restrictions Chapter 4: Controller and processor Article 24: Responsibility of the controller Article 25: Data protection by design and by default Article 26: Joint controllers Article 27: Representatives of controllers or processors not established in the Union Article 28: Processor Article 29: Processing under the authority of the controller or processor Article 30: Records of processing activities Article 31: Cooperation with the supervisory authority Article 32: Security of processing Article 33: Notification of a personal data breach to the supervisory authority Article 34: Communication of a personal data breach to the data subject Article 35: Data protection impact assessment Article 36: Prior consultation Article 37: Designation of the data protection officer Article 38: Position of the data protection officer Article 39: Tasks of the data protection officer Article 40: Codes of conduct Article 41: Monitoring of approved codes of conduct Article 42: Certification Article 43: Certification bodies Chapter 5: Transfers of personal data Article 44: General principle for transfers Article 45: Transfers on the basis of an adequacy decision Article 46: Transfers subject to appropriate safeguards Article 47: Binding corporate rules Article 48: Transfers or disclosures not authorised by Union law Article 49: Derogations for specific situations Article 50: International cooperation for the protection of personal data Chapter 6: Supervisory authorities Article 51: Supervisory authority Article 52: Independence Article 53: General conditions for the members of the supervisory authority Article 54: Rules on the establishment of the supervisory authority Article 55: Competence Article 56: Competence of the lead supervisory authority Article 57: Tasks Article 58: Powers Article 59: Activity reports Chapter 7: Cooperation and consistency Article 60: Cooperation between the lead supervisory authority and the other supervisory authorities concerned Article 61: Mutual assistance Article 62: Joint operations of supervisory authorities Article 63: Consistency mechanism Article 64: Opinion of the Board Article 65: Dispute resolution by the Board Article 66: Urgency procedure Article 67: Exchange of information Article 68: European Data Protection Board Article 69: Independence Article 70: Tasks of the Board Article 71: Reports Article 72: Procedure Article 73: Chair Article 74: Tasks of the Chair Article 75: Secretariat Article 76: Confidentiality Chapter 8: Remedies, liability and penalties Article 77: Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority Article 78: Right to an effective judicial remedy against a supervisory authority Article 79: Right to an effective judicial remedy against a controller or processor Article 80: Representation of data subjects Article 81: Suspension of proceedings Article 82: Right to compensation and liability Article 83: General conditions for imposing administrative fines Article 84: Penalties Chapter 9: Specific processing situations Article 85: Processing and freedom of expression and information Article 86: Processing and public access to official documents Article 87: Processing of the national identification number Article 88: Processing in the context of employment Article 89: Safeguards and derogations relating to processing for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes Article 90: Obligations of secrecy Article 91: Existing data protection rules of churches and religious associations Chapter 10: Delegated and implementing acts Article 92: Exercise of the delegation Article 93: Committee procedure Chapter 11: Final provisions Article 94: Repeal of Directive 95: /46: /EC Article 95: Relationship with Directive 20: 02: /58: /EC Article 96: Relationship with previously concluded Agreements Article 97: Commission reports Article 98: Review of other Union legal acts on data protection Article 99: Entry into force and application

Legal Text

Article 75 - Secretariat

1. The Board shall have a secretariat, which shall be provided by the European Data Protection Supervisor.

2. The secretariat shall perform its tasks exclusively under the instructions of the Chair of the Board.

3. The staff of the European Data Protection Supervisor involved in carrying out the tasks conferred on the Board by this Regulation shall be subject to separate reporting lines from the staff involved in carrying out tasks conferred on the European Data Protection Supervisor.

4. Where appropriate, the Board and the European Data Protection Supervisor shall establish and publish a Memorandum of Understanding implementing this Article, determining the terms of their cooperation, and applicable to the staff of the European Data Protection Supervisor involved in carrying out the tasks conferred on the Board by this Regulation.

5. The secretariat shall provide analytical, administrative and logistical support to the Board.

6. The secretariat shall be responsible in particular for:

(a) the day-to-day business of the Board;

(b) communication between the members of the Board, its Chair and the Commission;

(c) communication with other institutions and the public;

(d) the use of electronic means for the internal and external communication;

(e) the translation of relevant information;

(f) the preparation and follow-up of the meetings of the Board;

(g) the preparation, drafting and publication of opinions, decisions on the settlement of disputes between supervisory authorities and other texts adopted by the Board.

Relevant Recitals

Recital 140: Secretariat and Staff of the EDPS

The Board should be assisted by a secretariat provided by the European Data Protection Supervisor. The staff of the European Data Protection Supervisor involved in carrying out the tasks conferred on the Board by this Regulation should perform its tasks exclusively under the instructions of, and report to, the Chair of the Board.

Commentary

Article 75 GDPR establishes the existence of, and governs the functioning of the secretariat of the Board. Article 75 GDPR outlines the secretariat's responsibilities, which take on a primarily administrative function. Including the secretariat within the GDPR's legislative rubric is reflective of European policymakers' desire to support the Board with robust administrative assistance in pursuit of maintaining the Board's independent functioning.

(1) The Secretariat

Article 75(1) GDPR clarifies that the EDPB secretariat is provided for by the EDPS. Docksey notes that the choice of the EDPS rather than the Commission to provide the secretariat was based on the following factors. Unlike the Commission, the EDPS is itself an independent supervisory authority, has its own financial budget, independent administration and has the requisite data protection knowledge.

Furthermore, this choice must be seen in light of Case C-614/10, Commission v Austria. Here, the ECJ established that a supervisory authority's staff could not be subject to the disciplinary oversight of the executive. The Court noted that this arrangement undermined the authority's independence by creating the risks of partiality and undue influence. Docksey suggests that the ruling in Case C-614/10 "made it plain," that under no circumstances could the Board be reliant on the Commission for its functioning, therefore its reliance on the EDPS as an independent authority was the most logical conclusion.

(2) Exclusive Performance of Tasks under the Instructions of the Chair

The second paragraph of the provision clarifies that the secretariat is subject to the instructions of the Board's Chair. The use of the word “exclusively” is intended to clarify that the EDPS does not retain any authority over the staff seconded to the EDPB. Many commentators doubt that Article 75(1) GDPR can effectively ensure EDPB freedom from any influence from the EDPS, direct or indirect. For instance, the secretariat staff remain formally employed by the EDPS and are only made available to the EDPB on a temporary basis. Finally secretariat staff are dependent on the EDPS for career progression. This arrangement undoubtedly has the capacity to undermine the Board's independence and may conflict with the legislative aim of establishing an independent Board. Whether Article 75(1) GDPR can truly ensure the secretariat's freedom from the EDPS' influence, remains to be seen. However, it must be acknowledged that this risk is offset by the reporting provisions under Article 75(3) GDPR.

(3) Separate Reporting Lines for EDPB Staff

The employees of the Board's secretariat only report to the Chair (Recital 140 GDPR). In this respect, they are therefore withdrawn from the EDPS’s oversight (Article 46 Regulation (EC) No. 45/2001) and are obliged to maintain secrecy vis-à-vis their employer with regard to their activities within the EDPB.

(4) Memorandum of Understanding

The EDPB's interdependence upon the EDPS gave rise to concerns regarding the Board's independence. These concerns have been acknowledged and are reflected in the legislature's need to ensure a special status for members of the secretariat in terms of staff selection, leave, performance appraisals, disciplinary profiles, reintegration into the EDPS ranks, and separate reporting lines. To this end, as suggested by Article 75(4) GDPR, the EDPS and the EDPB issued a joint Memorandum of Understanding on May 25, 2018 (“MoU”) which also defines the terms of the EDPS/EDPB cooperation with regard to organisation of work spaces and structures (service rooms, e-mail addresses, filing systems and separation of documents). Brink and Wilhelm have rightly doubted the extent to which the MoU will be able to prevent any potential interference from the EDPS in the Board's staffing and budgetary arrangements.

(5) General Tasks

The secretariat of the EDPB has a broader range of tasks than the simple administrative and logistical tasks provided by the Commission secretariat to the Article 29 Working Party. Article 75(5) GDPR states generally that the secretariat shall provide “analytical, administrative and logistical support”. This broadly requires the secretariat to carry out two different types of activity for the Board: analytical tasks on the one hand, and logistical and administrative tasks on the other. These are explained further below.

(6) Specific Tasks

Article 75(6) GDPR exhaustively lists the secretariat's tasks. The Board's administrative and logistical tasks include responsibilities such as (a) the day-to-day business of the Board; (b) communication between the members of the Board, its Chair and the Commission, and, where relevant, the EFTA Surveillance Authority; (d) the use of electronic means for the internal and external communication; and (e) the translation of relevant information. While the secretariat's analytical tasks include (c) communicating with other institutions and the public; (f) the preparation and follow-up of the meetings of the Board; and (g) the preparation, drafting and publication of opinions, decisions on the settlement of disputes between supervisory authorities and other texts adopted by the Board.

Decisions

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