Balance of competence review information rights

Overview

The Balance of Competences Review was announced by the Foreign Secretary William Hague in July 2012 to examine the balance of competences between the UK and the European Union.

The Review is an audit of what the EU does, and how it affects government and the general public in the UK. The Information Rights Balance of Competences review will focus on the specific information rights expressed by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU); this covers two key areas: the protection of personal data, and access by individuals to public information.

The Review will look at the EU's competence in the field of information rights and provide a comprehensive analysis of how the EU affects information rights of individuals, business and organisations.

We are seeking evidence from business, think tanks, private and public  sector  organisations, rights groups, lawyers, academics, bloggers and the public, on the impact of this competence on their own area of expertise.

The Call for Evidence is structured around a series of questions which consider the impact of the EU’s overarching information rights competence, its advantages and disadvantages for the UK and what future challenges and opportunities there are in respect of information rights.

Anyone wishing to contribute can do so via this online tool or by sending their evidence/views to informationrightsBOC@justice.gsi.gov.uk.uk.

Your evidence should be objective, factual information about the impact or effect of the competence in your area of expertise, including relevant citations and the source of the evidence where available.  

We will expect to publish your response and the name of your organisation, unless you ask us not to (but please note that even if you ask us to keep your contribution confidential, we might have to release it in response to a request under the Freedom of Information Act).  We will not publish your own name unless you wish it to be included, this will include your responses on our online tool Dialogue.

This is a response from a previous review showing how your response could be styled.

Call for evidence

Call for Evidence on the Review of the Balance of Competences between the United Kingdom and the European Union - Information Rights (PDF)

Events

We are hosting a number of discussion events in London (29 April), Edinburgh (28 May) and Brussels (June tbc). These events are free to attend although places will be limited (we may need to restrict representation to one attendee per organisation to ensure a wide range of views).

To register your interest for one of these discussions email informationrightsBOC@justice.gsi.gov.uk, stating which location you wish to attend, as soon as possible.

What happens next:

Following the close of the Call for Evidence, a report on the Balance of Competences on Information Rights and what this means for the national interest is due to be published by  the  end of 2014.