The ePrivacy Regulation has been discussed since April 2016 but has not yet come to a binding conclusion. In January 2017, the European Commission published its first draft. Subsequently, multiple committees issued responses to the Commission’s proposals, which eventually led to the EU Parliament’s own draft in October 2017 (the GDPR had already been decided at this time). Almost one month later, the EU Council Presidency published an assessment report, in which the current state of things was summarized. At this point, it’s the most current publication. The next move is for the EU Council to decide on the draft.
Originally, it was planned that ePrivacy and the GDPR would take effect at the same time. This plan has long since been abandoned. For years, the EU member states haven’t been able to agree on a common policy. But there is hope. In February 2021, the EU Council of Ministers agreed on a common version – the starting signal for the so-called trialogue. This means that current representatives of the three bodies involved in the EU legislative process, i.e., the EU Commission, Parliament and Council of Ministers, are negotiating with each other.
Since a year-long transition period is also predicted for the ePrivacy Regulation, there won’t be any need to reckon with an immediate implementation of the draft signed off by all participating countries. To which extent the draft will still be changed can’t yet be predicted. However, it’s fairly likely that this won’t remain as the final version. For 2022, France will assume the Council Presidency, taking over from Portugal and Germany, whose proposals failed.