EU be helpful to have common rules in the EU. I also got the support from the governments. We have to bear in mind that by creating common rules we are intervening in national Civil laws. Online trade is a specific matter. Digital world does not like virtual boarders and our duty is to harmonise the rules. Concrete examples of some Member States show that a specific regulation for online sale of digital content works in practice. In the area of tangible goods online sales we still need to work further and consult the public. On the other hand, I believe that we cannot distinguish offline and online environments. A number of companies are active in both modes, and different rules for each environment would greatly complicate the business. Such a world cannot be divided. Impact assessment under the preparation will show us in which direction to go; one way could be to simplify consumers’ law. This is, among other things, an area that I want to focus on in the years to come. I would like to carry out a major review of consumers’ law, as a number of legislative acts come from the 80s and are obsolete. One of the most important topics in your portfolio is undoubtedly the data protection reform which is to be finalised at the end of the year. What is in for business and what does the right to be forgotten concretely means for companies? Personal information stored online can be outdated or distorted. The server can continue to make a false description of the subject. The right to be forgotten is a tool to repair the damage. The reform, in general terms, will establish a single, pan-European law for data protection, replacing the patchwork of national laws. This will make it easier for companies to operate in the EU, as they won’t have to deal with 28 data protection rules. For SMEs it means fewer obligations to report to the supervisory data protection authorities, for all companies it will bring money saving for legal assistance in different countries they operate. The new legislation will ensure a quick solution to repair the damage via a one-stop-shop that will help the companies to tackle the problem at home and not in another Member State. I look forward to put the legislation into practice. We will accompany the implementation of the new legislation by an information campaign to make companies aware of their responsibilities and the rights of the subjects who entrust their data to them.
cases when the US secret services will have the right to access European data. It is very sensitive and we have the EU citizens’ privacy as a priority. We want to have annual reports from the US to have a clear view and we look for strong guarantees. Our goal is to reach high security of data and avoid spying. In September, I will present the report of the EU-US negotiations on data protection progress to the College of Commissioners and to the Members of the European Parliament. At the same time, we are finalising an umbrella agreement with the US on police and judicial cooperation. The Commission is preparing a work programme for the next year. What kind of initiatives can we expect in your portfolio? In the next year, among others, we will focus on insolvency rules. We wish to give a second chance to entrepreneurs who did not succeed. Better alignment of rules in the European Union means better conditions for foreign investors. Furthermore, we will be dealing with several proposals in the area of work-life balance but also in family law, e.g. revision of the Brussels IIa regulation, which is inter alia dealing with the cases of cross-border child care responsibilities. In this respect, I appreciate the better regulation agenda of the Commission, which is assessing the proposals before their adoption. Impact assessments and public consultations help us to avoid negative impacts of proposed legislation. What is your opinion on immigration quotas? Shall we look at a prevention plan? The numbers are alerting. This is a reason why I think we have to look for a European solution. It calls for a new asylum policy. The solution must come with a whole range of measures including prevention. First of all, we have to help the refugees who are suffering from war conflicts and are in a life threat-
matters interview
ening situation. This plight points out the lack of key competences and we need to decide quickly about a common action. We have to make sure to tackle smugglers networks as well. How far are you in the preparation of the independent European Public Prosecutor´s Office? We need to prosecute and bring to justice those who commit criminal offences affecting the Union’s financial interests. I want to put in place a strong, independent and efficient European Public Prosecutor´s Office to protect taxpayer’s money against fraud to the EU budget. At this stage, we are finalising the scope, in other words the kind of cases the prosecutor will be responsible for. The discussions with the Member States are going in the right direction. I would like to entrust the European Prosecutor with the competence to deal with VAT and in particular with carousel fraud. National treasuries lose billions of Euros in potential tax revenues in this case. We have commissioned a study to quantify the carousel fraud losses and quantify the benefits of a solution at the EU level. What is the major difference between national and EU politics? The political culture in Brussels is at high level and top politicians enjoy a great respect. In the Czech Republic it is rather the contrary. The higher you get the less respect you have. On the other hand, I am missing a dash of directness, which I am accustomed to. Domestic policy is undoubtedly less diplomatically correct. Thank you for the interview! Alena Mastantuono Director of CEBRE – Czech Business Representation to the EU
P hoto : A rchive V ěra J ourová
Data protection of EU citizens is also a part of the EU-US negotiations. How will the reform be reflected at EU level in the EU-US negotiations on data protection? Safe Harbour, a data protection agreement to protect the privacy of EU citizens, was criticised by many Members of the European Parliament, but we received strong guarantees from the US side in terms of strengthened control of the system. We have also agreed on a sanctions mechanism. I have personally negotiated with high representatives from the US administration. We are still negotiating over the access of the US secret services to EU citizen’s data. We need to define the particular
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