The official text of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been translated into the EU's official languages and published in the Official Journal of the EU (OJ), along with the Directive for the police and criminal justice sector.

The GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC) will replace the current Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC) and apply in all member states from 25 May 2018, two years from its entry into force on 24 May 2016 (see Legal update, EU Parliament approves data protection reform package).

The Directive for the police and criminal justice sector (Directive (EU) 2016/680 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by competent authorities for the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties, and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Council Framework Decision 2008/977/JHA), which is part of the EU data protection reform package, comes into force on 5 May 2016. EU member states must transpose it into national law by 6 May 2018.

The Passenger Name Record Directive, which concerns protection of air passenger data, has also been published in the OJ (see Legal update, EU passenger name record (PNR) directive published in Official Journal).

OJ publication marks the formal end of the legislative process. Businesses now have a fixed deadline for mandatory compliance with the official GDPR text. Preparation should be underway for its application, particularly in the light of hugely increased monetary penalties for breaches and other new requirements. For more information on GDPR compliance, see Article, General Data Protection Regulation: preparing for change.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, 4 May 2016.