On Monday 21 January 2013 in Stockholm, AmCham EU and AmCham Sweden, with the support of SAS Institute, hosted ‘New Privacy Rules for Europe: What is at Stake for Sweden?’, with the participation of over 100 persons from the Swedish and US government, business, academia and other sectors. The data protection seminar focused on the potential impacts of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation now in the ongoing legislative procedures at the European Parliament and Council. This event in Stockholm is one of the already 10 other data protection events held across the EU Member States, which AmCham EU has jointly organised with local colleagues from the AmChams.

The programme featured speakers from several sectors notably from the Swedish Ministry of Justice, European Parliament, European Commission and business representatives divided into two panels. The first panel focused on the state of play and scope of the regulation and the second panel was on the impact for businesses in Sweden. Speakers presented the case for a risk and context-base approach cautioning policy-makers to avoid a one-size-fits-all prescriptive legislation. As regards the potential impacts on business, it was clear that whatever text is agreed to at the end of the process it is absolutely necessary to ensure technology neutrality and that innovation is not stifled, and most importantly, the regulation must be future-proof.

Overall, the discussions during the seminar were very much appreciated by those in attendance who had an opportunity to ask questions to speakers. Swedish policy-makers were clear that data protection is a top priority.  It is essential to find a balance that will ensure the trust and privacy of consumers while encouraging industry to continue investing and innovating in Sweden and the EU.