INFORMAL JUSTICE COUNCIL : DATA PROTECTION TALKS DRAG ON.

A scattering of ministers are on site - and Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding has already left the building. The Greek Minister for Justice, Charalampos Athanassiou and his EU counterparts held a debate, on 23 January in Athens, in the name of the Presidency of the Council - where what would politely be called a select group of people debated the transfer of EU citizens' personal data to third countries, such as the US. Reding herself does not expect an agreement to be reached on this dossier before the European elections.

Since they were proposed, in January 2012, the two legislative texts on data privacy that are under debate - a regulation on the protection of EU citizens' personal data, especially when they are used commercially and online, and a directive on the protection of criminal data - are set to have a rough time at the Council of Ministers. To Reding, the states are divided, hesitant and slow - she had indeed made this issue one of her priorities. Neither the scandal on the breadth of US surveillance in Europe nor the Commission's pressure have been sufficient to speed up work. The primary aim of this informal technical discussion in Athens was to calm the controversy. However, Reding made a speedy visit to the Greek capital to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and had made arrangements outside of the meeting. She arrived the evening before the meeting and met with the Greek minister, the Italian Minister Anna Maria, and the rapporteurs in charge of the regulation at the EP - including the main rapporteur, Jan Philipp Albrecht (Germany), who is a member of the Greens group. The aim was to establish a road map. Reding explained that the aim is to establish - step by step - a work calendar to reach an agreement on these crucial EU legislations on data protection. According to information received by Europolitics, most national delegations were unaware that the meeting was being held.

Aiming for a "partial agreement" at the Justice Council in March - on both the regulation and the directive - the commissioner hopes to move forward as much as possible with her plans, given that the EU elections are coming up fast (22-25 May), that she will likely start her own...