EU4Digital to strengthen GDPR in Eastern partner countries
The EU4Digital Facility has announced a new initiative to strengthen data protection principles and standards in the legislative frameworks of countries in the Eastern Partnership (EaP).
This activity will align these frameworks with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), ensuring that Eastern partner citizens’ data is protected in accordance with EU standards.
The new EU4Digital GDPR implementation activity will engage public stakeholders in the Eastern partner countries, where improved data protection frameworks are crucial for accelerating digital transformation and regional integration. GDPR is essential for nearly all cross-border digital solutions, therefore serving as a fundamental enabler of the EU’s Digital Single Market.
Within the EU4Digital Facility, numerous support areas have identified GDPR as a pivotal factor for international trade and cooperation. For example, during piloting of cross-border electronic identification (eID), GDPR compliance was discussed as a limitation for expanding the exchange of data, particularly in sectors such as healthcare. Similarly, in the current EU4Digital eCustoms solution, an element that is crucial for matching freight transportation data on both sides of the border is the commercial truck number plate, which is considered personal data under GDPR.
Addressing such gaps in data protection would allow more opportunities for cross-border interoperability.
A kick-off meeting with Moldovan stakeholders took place last month, identifying areas for support. EU4Digital agreed to provide Moldovan stakeholders with strategic support and advice to facilitate the implementation of GDPR practices and standards, to review personal data protection rules for websites of legal entities operating in the country, and to provide capacity-building capabilities in the area of data protection.
Discussions with stakeholders from Ukraine and Armenia will be held in July, regarding the scope of the initiative in those countries. Tailored support is required, since each Eastern partner country is currently at a different stage of GDPR enablement.
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