On 5 July, 2005, the European Commission (EC) initiated legal proceedings against Germany. The EC alleges that Germany has never properly implemented Article 28 of the Data Protection Directive. This provides for the “complete independence” of data protection supervisors. But does “complete independence” necessarily mean complete functional and organisational independence?
The action against Germany was started after the European Union (EU) executive body received complaints in 2003. A 2004 German government hearing did not prove satisfactory in the view of the EC. The core allegation is the improper implementation of the EU Data Protection Directive:
