The EU Member States started to discuss the EU‘s Personal Data Protection Reform in 2012. Since then the original proposal has undergone several changes, as each Member State had their own priorities. Next week the Council of the EU should finally decide on a common position. The Czech Republic submitted comments, too, including arguments against the introduction of sanctions for violation of obligation. The proposed form of sanctions has been criticized also by lawyers approached by the EurActiv.cz server. They believe that imposing fines in their current form (0.5 to 2% of the company’s yearly turnover) would mean an end to many businesses. It could also become problematic to define and compute yearly turnover. Another puzzling issue is the proposed introduction of the controller of personal data. The Czech negotiators have proposed that such a controller could be an obligation for public sector institutions only. To read the article in Czech, click here.