23.4.2008   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 111/11

(1)

Directive 2006/24/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 15 March 2006 on the retention of data generated or processed in connection with the provision of publicly available electronic communications services or of public communications networks (1) (the Data Retention Directive) aims to harmonise Member States’ provisions concerning the obligations of providers of publicly available electronic communications services or of public communications networks with respect to the retention of certain data which are generated or processed by them in order to ensure that such data are available for the purpose of the investigation, detection and prosecution of serious crime.

(2)

The preamble to the Data Retention Directive notes that technologies relating to electronic communications are changing rapidly and that legitimate requirements of competent authorities may evolve. In order to obtain advice and encourage the sharing of best practice in all matters relating to the retention of personal data, the Commission intends to establish a group composed of Member States’ law enforcement authorities, associations of the electronic communications industry, representatives of the European Parliament and data protection authorities including the European Data Protection Supervisor.

(3)

Article 14 of the Data Retention Directive states that no later than 15 September 2010, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and Council an evaluation of the application of the Directive and its impact on economic operators and consumers, taking into account further developments in electronic communications technology and statistics provided to the Commission on retention of data. The evaluation should help determine whether it is necessary to amend the Data Retention Directive, in particular with regard to the list of data in Article 5 and the periods of retention provided for in Article 6 of the Directive.

(4)

On 10 February 2006 the Council and the Commission issued a Joint Statement in relation to evaluation of the Data Retention Directive. This stated that the Commission will invite relevant stakeholders to regular review meetings to exchange information about technological developments, costs and effectiveness of application of the Directive. The Joint Statement says that during this process Member States will be invited to inform partners of their experiences in implementing the Directive and to share best practice. The Joint Statement further says that on the basis of these discussions ‘the Commission will consider presenting any necessary proposals, including with regard to any difficulties which may have emerged for Member States in relation to the technical and practical implementation of the Directive, in particular its application to Internet e-mail and Internet telephony data’.

(5)

For the reasons indicated above it is necessary to set up a group of experts in the field of data retention drawn from the stakeholders referred to in Recital 14 of the Data Retention Directive.

(6)

The group of experts will work as a consultative group. The group of experts will facilitate the sharing of best practice and contribute to the Commission’s assessment of the costs and effectiveness of the Directive as well as the development of relevant technologies which may impact on the Directive.

(7)

The members of the group of experts will be drawn from the stakeholder groups referred to in Recital 14 of Directive 2006/24/EC.

(8)

The group should be composed of a maximum of 25 members representing an appropriate balance of the aforementioned stakeholder groups.

(9)

The group of experts should be able to establish sub-groups in order to facilitate and accelerate its work by focusing on a specific issue. The terms of reference of such sub-groups should be agreed upon by the group of experts as a whole and should be clearly defined.

(10)

Rules on disclosure of information by members of the group of experts should be provided for, without prejudice to the Commission’s rules on security as set out in the Annex to Commission Decision 2001/844/EC, ECSC, Euratom (2).

(11)

Personal data relating to members of the group should be processed in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (3).

(12)

The term of office of the Members should be five years and may be renewable.

(13)

It is appropriate to fix a period for the application of this Decision. The Commission will in due time consider the advisability of an extension,

(a)

to provide a forum for dialogue and the sharing of experience and best practice among experts drawn from the entities outlined in Article 3 hereof and in particular between competent authorities of the Member States and representatives of the electronic communications sector on questions related to the retention of personal data by providers of publicly available electronic communications services or public communications networks in order to ensure that the data are available for the investigation, detection or prosecution of serious crime;

(b)

to encourage and facilitate a common orientation on the application of the Directive;

(c)

to exchange information about relevant technological developments, costs and effectiveness of application of the Directive;

(d)

to assist the Commission in identifying and defining difficulties which have emerged for the Member States in relation to the technical and practical implementation of the Directive in particular its application to Internet e-mail and Internet telephony data;

(e)

to assist the Commission in its evaluation of the application of the Data Retention Directive and its impact on economic operators and consumers.

(a)

Member States’ law enforcement authorities (up to 10 members);

(b)

Members of the European Parliament (up to 2 members);

(c)

Associations of the electronic communications industry (up to 8 members);

(d)

Representatives of the Data Protection Authorities (up to 4 members);

(e)

The European Data Protection Supervisor (1 member).