On 16 January, the mandate of the European Data Protection Supervisor Peter Hustinx ended. However, the European Commission has been unable to find a suitable candidate to replace him. The procedure took almost half a year, but the selection panel did not find a replacement for Mr Hustinx, who has been in this position for 10 years. The EC launched a new procedure, but apparently the Office will have to be headed by Mr Hustinx for another couple of months. In his letter to the Vice-President of the Commission and Commissioner for Inter-Institutional Relations and Administration Šefčovič, Mr Hustinx expressed his concerns about the situation. He stressed, that the EU is in need of a functionning independent data protection supervision, even more so in the light of recent events in the area of data protection. Once the EC panel finds a suitable candidate, he needs to be appointed by common accord of the Council and of the European Parliament.

For more information, click here and here.