A draft bill presented by the Secretary of State Mathieu Michel, reforming certain elements of the operation of the Data Protection Authority (APD) was approved Friday in the Council of Ministers, communicated to his cabinet the same day. The new elements that this text should put in place, among other things around the power of advisers who are members of the “Knowledge Center“of ODA, were included in the response provided on January 12 to the European Commission.

The European executive was worried almost a year ago about the independence of the ODA. Believing that Belgium had not responded satisfactorily to its concerns, it had brought an infringement procedure in June 2021, with first a letter of formal notice, then a reasoned opinion last November, according to the estate usual steps. If Belgium does not fall into line, the next step could be a move to the Court of Justice of the European Union, which among other things has the power to impose financial sanctions.

The Frank Robben Problem

What the European Commission has criticized Belgium from the start is the presence of members who cannot be “considered to be free from any outside influence“, through other functions that ultimately bind them to the Belgian government, for example.

The only personality who would still be problematic on this point would be Frank Robben, member of the Knowledge Center, one of the 5 bodies of the APD. He is also general administrator of the Crossroads Bank for Social Security and is also active with the eHealth platform, among other things.