House majority passes EU directive on data protection
Greek Parliament passed a bill on Monday that will incorporate a European Union data protection regulation into Greek law, with an overwhelming majority.
The legislation was approved by New Democracy, main opposition SYRIZA, the center-left Movement for Change and leftist MeRA25. Communist party KKE and nationalist Greek Solution voted against.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires businesses to protect the privacy and personal data of EU citizens during transactions within the bloc.
Although the regulation has already taken effect in Greece, as in all EU member states since 2018, Athens had not drafted the necessary legislation to specify how certain provisions of the GDPR will apply in the country.
The country risked stiff penalties if it did not add the directive into the body of its national law.
The GDPR allows member states to exercise a degree of discretion regarding certain provisions.
