European Data Protection Board (EDPB) members decided to accept the request from the President of the Personal Data Protection Service of Georgia - Prof. Dr. Dr. Lela Janashvili, to grant the Service the status of an observer of the EDPB's activities.

The decision was adopted at the plenary meeting of 20 June 2023 on the basis of Article 8.1. of the Rules of Procedure (RoP), according to which the Board, upon request, may decide to grant a non-EU country Data Protection Authority the status of an observer if it is in the interest of the Board and the following cumulative conditions are met:  the Data Protection Authority of the non-EU country acts with complete independence; the Data Protection Authority is established in a non-EU country which with a view to acceding to the European Union has undertaken binding international commitments to fully align its data protection rules with those of the EU.

“The Board has taken note of the information you provided on the Personal Data protection service of Georgia and on the Georgian law on the protection of personal data. The Secretariat has also consulted the European Commission to ensure homogeneity with the European Institutions.”; “ln this regard, I am glad to inform you that the EDPB members decided to accept the request of the Georgian data protection authority to become an observer to EDPB's activities.” – It is mentioned in the letter to the President of the Personal Data Protection Service of Georgia from the Chair of EDPB and Data Protection Ombudsman of Finland, Dr. Anu Talus.

“On behalf of the Personal Data Protection Service of Georgia, I thank you, your colleagues and the members of the EDPB for supporting the European aspiration of the Data Protection Supervisory Authority of Georgia in its effort to become an observer of EDPB's activities. Indeed, it is a significant milestone in the history of Georgian personal data protection law and, over the course of the existence of its supervisory authority to the extent that it further ensures the compliance of the activity of our Authority with European standards and its noteworthy membership of the European family of counterpart data protection authorities.” – It is mentioned in the gratitude letter to the Chair of EDPB and Data Protection Ombudsman of Finland from the President of Personal Data Protection Service of Georgia, Prof. Dr. Dr. Lela Janashvili.

For your kind information, the EDPB, which is an EU body with a legal personality, was established based on Art. 68 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Since May 25, 2018, it has represented the legal successor to the Article 29 Working Party, which operated under the Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the Protection of Individuals with regard to the Processing of Personal Data and on the Free Movement of Such Data. The EDPB comprises representatives of the Data Protection Supervisory Authorities of each EU Member State, as well as the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS). Also, the European Commission has a right to participate in its activities and is authorized to designate a representative. The Board plays an essential role in the effective enforcement of personal data protection regulations across the European Union and in establishing consistent best practices for Data Protection Supervisory Authorities; In particular, it adopts legally binding decisions, adopts opinions, advises the European Commission on any issue related to the personal data protection in the European Union, and also develops guidelines and recommendations.