From the Introduction:
“Defining the law applicable to the processing of personal data under Directive 95/46/EC (‘Directive’ or ‘Directive 95/46’) is a key issue for a number of reasons. Provisions on applicable law are crucial in determining the external scope of EU data protection law, in other words, to determine the extent to which EU data protection law is applicable to processing of personal data taking place wholly or partly outside the EU/EEA, but still having a relevant connection with the EU/EEA territory. However, rules on applicable law also determine the scope of data protection law within the EU/EEA, so as to avoid possible conflicts between and overlapping of the national laws of the EU/EEA Member States implementing the Directive.
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The final objective of the Working Party is to provide legal certainty in the application of EU data protection law. This entails, on the one hand, that data subjects are aware of which rules apply to protect their personal data, and on the other hand, that businesses as well as other private and public bodies know which data protection rules regulate their data processing.”
Relevant Law: Directive 95/46/EC
The full text is available at http://ec.europa.eu…