Article 64 GDPR - Opinion of the Board
Relevant Recitals
Frequently Asked Questions
Short answers to common questions about this provision. They are general information and not legal advice.
Article 64(1) requires the competent authority to communicate its draft decision to the Board where it aims to adopt a national list of processing operations requiring a data protection impact assessment under Article 35(4), decide on the compliance of a draft code of conduct under Article 40(7), approve accreditation requirements under Article 41(3) or Article 43(3) or certification criteria under Article 42(5), determine standard data protection clauses under point (d) of Article 46(2) and Article 28(8), authorise contractual clauses under point (a) of Article 46(3), or approve binding corporate rules within the meaning of Article 47.
Yes. Under paragraph 2 any supervisory authority, the Chair of the Board or the Commission may request that any matter of general application or producing effects in more than one Member State be examined by the Board with a view to obtaining an opinion, in particular where a competent authority does not comply with its obligations of mutual assistance under Article 61 or joint operations under Article 62.
Under paragraph 3 the opinion is adopted within eight weeks by simple majority of the members of the Board, and that period may be extended by a further six weeks taking into account the complexity of the subject matter. A member who has not objected to a circulated draft decision within a reasonable period indicated by the Chair is deemed to be in agreement with it, and the Board does not issue an opinion if it has already issued one on the same matter.
No. Paragraph 6 prohibits the competent authority from adopting its draft decision within the period referred to in paragraph 3. Once the opinion is received, paragraph 7 requires the authority to take utmost account of it and to inform the Chair within two weeks, by electronic means and using a standardised format, whether it will maintain or amend the draft decision.
If the authority informs the Chair within the two-week period of paragraph 7 that it does not intend to follow the opinion in whole or in part, providing the relevant grounds, paragraph 8 triggers the dispute resolution procedure of Article 65(1). The Board then adopts a binding decision, so the opinion, though not itself binding, cannot simply be disregarded.