Data protection at the cost of economic growth? ECRI Commentary No. 11, 16 November 2012

The Data Protection Regulation proposed by the European Commission contains important elements to facilitate and secure personal data flows within the Single Market. A harmonised level of protection of individual data is an important objective and all stakeholders have generally welcomed this basic principle. However, when putting the regulation proposal in the complex context in which it is to be implemented, some important issues are revealed. The proposal dictates how data is to be used, regardless of the operational context. It is generally thought to have been influenced by concerns over social networking. This approach implies protection of data rather than protection of privacy and can hardly lead to more flexible instruments for global data flows.

Balance of payments quarterly data. 1985.1

This report gives the most recently available data on the overall balance of payments (quarterly and annual flows) for each of the Member States of the European Community and for the Community as a whole (sums of EUR 10 and EUR 9), for each of the countries applying for membership (Spain and Portugal) and also for the United States and Japan. Comparative tables for the main balances of the balances of payments of industrialized countries are also included. A shorter version of Eurostat's balance-of-payments layout is also given in the monthly publication Eurostatistics. All these data are derived from those which the authorities in each country prepare for their own use, on the basis of definitions and methods which have not been completely harmonized; they are set out here according to a layout based on the one suggested in the fourth edition of the International Monetary Fund's publication. Balance of Payments Manual.