COMPLETE QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED
SOLUTIONS
⩥ European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) 1950, Art. 8.
Answer: i. International treaty to protect human rights and fundamental
freedoms.
ii. Protects wide scope of fundamental rights and freedoms
⩥ Council of Europe (CoE). Answer: i. Formed after WWII to unite
Europe and promote rule of law, democracy, human rights and social
development.
⩥ Treaty of Rome (1957). Answer: i. established European Economic
Area (EEA)
ii. Adopted ECHR in 1950
a) International obligations
b) All CoE member states have now
incorporated or given effect to ECHR in their
national law
iii. EEA is all EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway
,⩥ Convention 108 (1981). Answer: i. Convention for the protection of
individuals w/ regard to automatic processing of personal data
a) Applies to all data processing carried out by both private/public
sector
b) Protects individual from abuse
c) Regulates trans-border data flow
d) Includes FIPPs
e) Outlaws processing of sensitive data without proper legal safeguards
f) Data subject rights
ii. The only legally binding international instrument in the data
protection field.
iii. Ratified by ALL EU Member States
⩥ Treaty of Maastricht (1992). Answer: i. Established the EU
⩥ EU Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC) (1995). Answer: i. Aimed to
further reconcile the individual data protection rights with free flow of
data between member states.
ii. Will be replaced by GDPR, May 28, 2018
⩥ Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2000).
Answer: i. Incorporated human rights protections (the original treaties of
the European Communities did not contain any reference to human
rights or their protection)
,ii. Became legally binding as EU primary law (Art 6(1) of TEU) when
the Lisbon Treaty came into force in 2009.
iii. respect for private and family life (Art. 7)
iv. right to data protection (Art. 8)
⩥ Treaty on European Union (TEU) (2007). Answer: i. Forms the basis
of EU law
⩥ Lisbon Treaty (2009). Answer: i. Aimed to strengthen and improve the
core structures of the EU to enable it to function more efficiently.
ii. Amended the two core EU treaties:
a) Treaty on European Union (TEU)
b) Treaty Establishing the European
Community (renamed Treaty on the Functioning
of the European union, or TFEU)
iii. Promoted Charter of Fundamental Rights and requires countries
wishing to join the EU to respect its core values—this was not
previously required.
⩥ What 7 EU institutions established by Lisbon Treaty?. Answer: d.
Establishes 7 EU institutions
i. European Parliament (> 700 members) - Legislative
ii. European Council (28 heads of member states)
iii. Council of the EU (groups of 28 ministers by theme) = Legislative
, iv. European Commission (28 commissioners and 23,000 civil servants)
v. The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU)
vi. European Central Bank
vii. Court of Auditors
⩥ Council of Europe (1949). Answer: a. International organization
(distinct from EU) focused on protecting human rights, democracy, rule
of law in Europe and promoting European culture.
b. 47 member states
c. No country has ever joined the EU w/o first belonging to the Council
of Europe.
⩥ European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Answer: a. A body of the
Council of Europe.
b. Enforces the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
⩥ European Parliament. Answer: a. Directly elected parliament of EU.
b. Together w/ Council of European Union and the European
Commission, makes up legislative branch of EU.
c. 751 members
⩥ European Commission. Answer: a. Proposes legislation
b. Implements decisions