Bulgarian President Radev Vetoed the Personal Data Protection Act

Bulgaria's Head of State exercised his power and returned a provision of the Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Personal Data Protection Act for a new debate in Parliament with objections to the criteria set forth in § 26 for the processing of personal data for journalistic purposes and for the purposes of the academic or literary expression, the press office of the Head of State said on 4th of February, reports BNT. 

The President underlines that the European regulation that is the cause of the adopted changes requires EU member states by law to achieve reconciliation of the right to protection of personal data with the right to expression and information. At the same time, however, the regulation does not contain or recommend that there should prevail and dominate the exercise of one right over the other i.e. it does not contain or recommend that the protection of personal data is at the expense of freedom of expression and information.

Президентът подчертава, че европейският регламент, който е причина за приетите промени, Unnecessary overregulation is created with the 10 criteria according to which a journalist, researcher, and writer should judge and prove to have used personal data legitimatel. The requirement to meet these criteria, even individually, is a restriction. It affects the core of freedom of expression and information as a fundamental right recognized years ago during the Age of Enlightenment in Europe, it empties it from content, and exercising it loses meaning.

According to the Head of State, the necessary balance has not been achieved, and the 10-criterion provision is an excessive, unbalanced measure. Overregulation of hypotheses where there will be competition between personal data protection and freedom of expression...