EU Data Protection Reform Plugs Along...Slowly but Surely

Following the recent European Union (“EU”) court ruling that delivered the “Right to Be Forgotten” to European citizens, the Council of Ministers met on June 6 in Brussels, moving a step closer to realizing data protection reform in the European Union. Specifically, the Council reached an agreement on rules governing transfers of personal data outside the EU, the definitions of “binding corporate rules” and “international organization,” and on rules relating to its territorial scope. “Data-protection law will apply to non-European companies if they do business on our territory,” said EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding. That means that companies will no longer be able to challenge which laws apply to them in court.