Harmonization may be counterproductive--at least for parts of Europe where public health research operates effectively

Abstract

Carinci et al. suggest that harmonization of data protection procedures between all EU Member States regarding research with patient data should be emphasized in the current proposal to update the European Union Data Protection directive (EU 95/46/EC),¹ in order to facilitate optimal public health research that is executed with the highest standards of confidentiality. According to these authors, the exemptions to the strict requirements for consent that are provided for certain types of research by the current data protection directive² have not been sufficiently or uniformly implemented by national legislatures. They see harmonization as a way to improve the situation in countries where that implementation is inadequate.