EUObserver.com reports that EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding has come under fire, from the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party amongst others, for the scope of and proposed timescale for her proposed new data protection rules.

These are seen by some as a “power grab” (What? The EU seeking to grab powers?) and fundamental issues arise not only about the speed with which implementation is planned but about the constitutional propriety of the proposals. Those of us who fully expected that the 2009 Treaty of Lisbon would be abused feel vindicated by the EU Commission’s claimed right to alter fundamental laws without reference to member states.

Don’t misunderstand me here. I am all for reigning in the abusive use of what should be personal information, and Commissioner Reding is probably the right person to take on the task. If the EU is to serve any purpose at all (and its primary purpose so far as I’m concerned is to provide employment for its elected members and bureaucrats) then this is the sort of thing it should be thinking about.

The key word here, however, is “thinking”, and it would be good to see some evidence that the full consequences of the proposals have been thought through before it is dumped on member states by ambitious politicians and job-creationist bureaucrats.

In particular, one would like to see some analysis of the “savings for business” which have been claimed for the proposals. I  can see that a unified set of regulations ought to be easier to navigate. The EU does not work like that, however, and every new set of regulations brings with it greater powers for arrogant officials to interfere and get in the way, whether or not any benefit results from the intervention.

Money drops from the sky at the end of every month for an EU civil servant, and none is ever dismissed for sloth or incompetence. They have no understanding of the needs of businesses and no incentive to make this work for them.

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