On May 4, 2016, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Following the European Parliament’s vote to adopt the GDPR on April 14, 2016, and the signing of the final draft on April 27, 2016, the GDPR will enter into force 20 days following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. Its provisions will be directly applicable in all EU Member States two years after this date, on May 25, 2018.

After four years of drafting and negotiations, the GDPR finally replaces and harmonizes the existing EU data protection legal framework.