3.1 Member States to finalise the set-up of the legal framework at national level

The Regulation is directly applicable in all the Member States 27 . This means that it enters into force and applies irrespective of any national law measures: the provisions of the Regulation can normally be directly relied on by citizens, business, public administrations and other organisations processing personal data. Nevertheless, in accordance with the Regulation, Member States have to take the necessary steps to adapt their legislation by repealing and amending existing laws, and setting up national data protection authorities 28 , choosing an accreditation body 29 and laying down the rules for the reconciliation of freedom of expression and data protection 30 . Also, the Regulation gives Member States the possibility to further specify the application of data protection rules in specific fields: public sector 31 , employment and social security 32 , preventive and occupational medicine, public health 33 , archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes 34 , national identification number 35 , public access to official documents 36 , and obligations of secrecy 37 . In addition, for genetic data, biometric data and data concerning health, the Regulation empowers Member States to maintain or introduce further conditions, including limitations. 38 Member States’ actions in this context are framed by two elements: 1.Article 8 of the Charter, meaning that any national specification law must meet the requirements of Article 8 of the Charter (and the Regulation which builds on Article 8 of the Charter), and 2.Article 16(2) TFEU, under which national legislation cannot impinge on the free flow of personal data within the EU. The Regulation is the opportunity to simplify the legal environment, and so have fewer national rules and greater clarity for operators. When adapting their national legislation, Member States have to take into account the fact that any national measures which would have the result of creating an obstacle to the direct applicability of the Regulation and of jeopardising its simultaneous and uniform application in the whole of the EU are contrary to the Treaties 39 . Repeating the text of regulations in national law is also prohibited (e.g. repeating definitions or the rights of individuals), unless such repetitions are strictly necessary for the sake of coherence and in order to make national laws comprehensible to those to whom they apply 40 . Reproducing the text of the Regulation word for word in national specification law should be exceptional and justified, and cannot be used to add additional conditions or interpretations to the text of the regulation. The interpretation of the Regulation is left to the European courts (the national courts and ultimately the European Court of Justice) and not to the Member States’ legislators. The national legislator can therefore neither copy the text of the Regulation when it is not necessary in the light of the criteria provided by the case law, nor interpret it or add additional conditions to the rules directly applicable under the Regulation. If they did, operators throughout the Union would again be faced with fragmentation and would not know which rules they have to obey. At this stage, only two Member States have already adopted the relevant national legislation 41 ; the remaining Member States are at different stages in their legislative procedures 42 and have schedules for adopting the legislation by 25 May 2018. It is important to give operators enough time to prepare for all the provisions that they have to comply with. Where Member States do not take the necessary actions required under the Regulation, are late in taking them or make use of the specification clauses provided for under the Regulation in a manner contrary to the Regulation, the Commission will make use of all the tools it has at its disposal, including recourse to the infringement procedure.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.