Testing governance and its regulatory techniques against some of the GDPR provisions

Abstract [En]: The paper follows a three-layered concentric perspective: starting with governance at large, then moving on to EU governance, and ending with an examination of a more focused domain shaped by the European Data Protection Regulation. More specifically, the GDPR intends to reverse the path: from being governed by governance to “steering” existing governance processes for the sake of protecting fundamental rights.

Abstract [It]: Lo scritto adotta una prospettiva concentrica: prendendo le mosse dal generale concetto di governance, si focalizza poi su quella dell’UE, per soffermarsi infine su alcune previsioni del Regolamento europeo sulla protezione dei dati personali. Nello specifico, il GDPR tenta di invertire il percorso: dall’essere governato dalla governance al carpirne ed indirizzarne le procedure per funzionalizzarle alla protezione dei diritti fondamentali. 

Keywords: governance; regulatory techniques; self/co-regulation; methods of coordination; privacy enhancing technologies; European Data Protection Board

Parole chiave: governance; tecniche regolatorie; auto/co-regolamentazione; metodi di coordinamento; tecnologie per la privacy; Comitato europeo per la protezione dei dati

Sommario: 1. Preamble. 2. First layer: governance at large. 2.1. Globalisation and Governance: an introduction. 2.2. The “players” and their “modus operandi”. 2.3. Regulatory outcomes. 3. Second layer: governance in the EU. 3.1. The framework of EU governance. 3.2. The “players” and their “modus operandi”. 3.2.1. Institutionalised governance: an overview. 3.2.2. Procedural Governance: an overview. 3.3. Regulatory outcomes of EU governance. 4. Third layer: testing governance against some GDPR provisions. 4.1. National supervisory authorities, their European network (EDPB) and their modus operandi. 4.2. Self-regulatory/co-regulatory outcomes. 4.3. Technology itself as a regulatory tool. 5. Concluding remarks.