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techUK campaigns in Brussels on importance of getting new data rules right

techUK heads to Brussels to make case for data rules which underpin rather than undermine any ambitions for the Digital Single Market.

This week, techUK took a third delegation of UK start-ups and growth SME companies to Brussels to meet with MEPs and European Commission officials on the Digital Single Market and the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It was a timely visit, with the Digital Single Market high on the Brussels agenda and with the GDPR entering its critical final phase of negotiations. Once again, we were delighted to be joined on the trip by Coadec, an organisation which represents UK tech start-ups.

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Building on the success of our previous trips, our delegation was invited to speak at a significant Intergroup meetings in the European Parliament; the first was a session of the Digital Agenda Intergroup, hosted by leading Conservative UK MEP Vicky Ford, and techUK also spoke to a session of the SME intergroup, hosted by Labour UK MEP Neena Gill and Slovakian EPP MEP Ivan Štefanec, with German EPP MEP Axel Voss amongst the MEPs in attendance. The delegation also met with a member of the Cabinet of Commissioner Věra Jourová, and Paul Nemitz, the Director leading on fundamental rights and citizenship in DG-Justice.

We were also fortunate to have a brief but timely meeting UK Minister for Europe David Lidington MP in which we stressed the critical importance of the GDPR for all UK businesses and the need for maintaining senior UK government engagement throughout the crucial trialogue process.

Our key takeaway from discussions with MEPs was that there is a clear appetite to better understand the implications of the GDPR for small, innovative businesses and to ensure that the regulation achieves its twin objectives of strong consumer protection and enabling innovation. techUK raised the issues of meaningful consent, joint liability, and a practical arrangement for the One-Stop-ShoptechUK's case studies were welcomed by many MEPs as being particularly helpful in understanding the implications of the Parliament and Council texts. As Vicky Ford MEP said, "This is not just about getting the regulation signed off quickly, this is about getting it right."

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Channel website: http://www.techuk.org/

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