Independence
General Data Protection Regulation · UE 2016/679
Independence
1. Each supervisory authority shall act with complete independence in performing its tasks and exercising its powers in accordance with this Regulation.
2. The member or members of each supervisory authority shall, in the performance of their tasks and exercise of their powers in accordance with this Regulation, remain free from external influence, whether direct or indirect, and shall neither seek nor take instructions from anybody.
3. Member or members of each supervisory authority shall refrain from any action incompatible with their duties and shall not, during their term of office, engage in any incompatible occupation, whether gainful or not.
4. Each Member State shall ensure that each supervisory authority is provided with the human, technical and financial resources, premises and infrastructure necessary for the effective performance of its tasks and exercise of its powers, including those to be carried out in the context of mutual assistance, cooperation and participation in the Board.
5. Each Member State shall ensure that each supervisory authority chooses and has its own staff which shall be subject to the exclusive direction of the member or members of the supervisory authority concerned.
6. Each Member State shall ensure that each supervisory authority is subject to financial control which does not affect its independence and that it has separate, public annual budgets, which may be part of the overall state or national budget.
In Luxembourg, the CNPD's independence is anchored in the law of 1 August 2018 organising the CNPD, which gives it a college of commissioners, its own budget and staff under its exclusive direction. The CNPD holds genuine investigation and administrative sanction powers and can take no instruction from a minister or an economic player.
Luxgap practice: never rely on a local relationship or a ministerial contact to delay a CNPD control; instead prepare a timestamped, opposable accountability file ready to be handed over at the first request.
