In the period from April to December 2012, the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection conducted the EU-funded Twinning Light "Improving Personal Data Protection in Serbia" project in cooperation with EU experts, the Information Commissioner of the Republic of Slovenia and his associates.

One of the important results of the project is the analysis of the degree of harmonization of the Law on Personal Data Protection with relevant EU legislation and standards. Today, the Commissioner forwarded to the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the Ministry of Justice and State Administration an Information which contains suggestions for amending the Law on Personal Data Protection with the purpose of harmonizing it with EU standards. The Commissioner asked the authorities to start the work on the amendments to the Law on Personal Data Protection immediately, as well as to pass relevant by-laws, the adoption of which is unexplainably late.

In this regard, the Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic stated the following:

"The importance and the scope of the amendments are a sign that it might be necessary to draft a completely new law. Namely, EU experts believe that about 50 articles out of 63 of the Law should be amended in some manner.

Besides the aforementioned, as well as the harmonization of the existing provisions with the standards set by the Convention 108 of the Council of Europe and the EC Directive 95/46, it is necessary to regulate some delicate areas that are currently inadequately supervised, such as video surveillance, biometric measures, direct marketing, by entering new segments in the Law, meaning complete new sets of provisions.

Of course, it is much more important for the state to ensure the adherence and protection of rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia than it is to formally harmonize legal provisions with relevant EU legislation. Due to the previously mentioned, I appealed to the authorities to start working on amendments without further ado.

Ignoring the problems in this field has to change. It is inconceivable that the Government is running months and years behind passing necessary by-laws. It is undeniable that the previous government is responsible for these delays; however, this should not be an excuse for the current government, but rather – an incentive to overcome these delays and reduce their consequences to the lowest possible degree. The Information which I sent to the Government and the line ministry has an aim of enticing and helping the efforts in this regard."