Article 74 GDPR

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Article 74 - Tasks of the Chair
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Chapter 10: Delegated and implementing acts

Legal Text


Article 74 - Tasks of the Chair

1. The Chair shall have the following tasks:

(a) to convene the meetings of the Board and prepare its agenda;
(b) to notify decisions adopted by the Board pursuant to Article 65 to the lead supervisory authority and the supervisory authorities concerned;
(c) to ensure the timely performance of the tasks of the Board, in particular in relation to the consistency mechanism referred to in Article 63.

2. The Board shall lay down the allocation of tasks between the Chair and the deputy chairs in its rules of procedure.

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

(1) Tasks of the Chair

Article 74(1) GDPR presents a first list of responsibilities the Chair is mandated with, namely, to convene the meetings of the Board, prepare its agenda, to notify decisions adopted by the Board under Article 65 GDPR to the authorities and to ensure the timely performance of the tasks of the Board in relation to the consistency mechanism referred to in Article 63 GDPR.  The above-mentioned tasks are supplemented by the other duties which are to be found in other GDPR provisions. In particular, the Chair represents the Board (Article 68(2) GDPR) and is responsible for directing the work of the secretariat (Article 75(2) GDPR). Other specific responsibilities arise from the consistency mechanism, which the Chair has a role to administer under Articles 64 and 65 GDPR. Docksey clarifies that while some tasks of the Chair are purely administrative or procedural,[1] other consistency mechanism tasks are more substantive.[2] For example, the Chair may determine a “reasonable” period in which members may object to draft decisions (Article 64(3) GDPR). Together with the other supervisory authorities, the Chair has also the right to request an opinion of the EDPB on any matter of general application or producing effects in more than one Member State (Article 64(2) GDPR). Moreover, the “subject-matter is thus not limited to the matters listed in Article 64(1) and could concern, for example, the determination of a data breach or the validity of consent in a specific technological context […] Perhaps most important is the tie-breaking power of the Chair under Article 65(3), that is, the power to adopt a decision where the members of the Board are split”.[3]

(2) Allocation of Tasks

Article 74(2) GDPR does not itself address the tasks that should be performed by the Chair and the deputy chairs. The provision rather requires the Board to allocate these tasks in its Rules of Procedure (“RoP”). For a more detailed review of the Board's RoP, please see our Commentary on Article 72(2) GDPR.Article 7(2) RoP provides that after each election of the Chair and/or deputy chairs, the Chair shall, after consultation with the deputy chairs, submit a proposal to the Board for the allocation of tasks among them including the acting on behalf of each other in cases of non-availability or incapacity. The RoP also foresee that the Chair might delegate to the deputy chairs the competence to sign documents. In addition, Article 7(1) RoP provides that the Chair may designate not only a deputy chair but also any member of a supervisory authority or of the secretariat to represent the Board externally in its place.

Decisions

→ You can find all related decisions in Category:Article 74 GDPR

References

  1. See e.g. Articles 64(5), 65(5), 64(7) and 64(8) GDPR.
  2. Docksey, in Kuner et al., The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Article 74 GDPR, p. 1099 (Oxford University Press 2020).
  3. Docksey, in Kuner et al., The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Article 74 GDPR, p. 1100 (Oxford University Press 2020).