The Committee of Convention 108 (T-PD) held its 50th Plenary Meeting in Strasbourg from 9 to 11 June 2026 which was opened by Matthias Kloth, Head of Digital Governance and Sport Department from the Secretariat. The Committee congratulated the Republic of Moldova on depositing the instrument of ratification of the Amending Protocol CETS No. 223 becoming the 34th Party to ratify Convention 108+. The Committee welcomed the presentation of HE Ambassador Gabriel REVEL, Permanent Representative of Monaco at the Council of Europe and Chair of the legal rapporteurs’ group of the Committee of Ministers (GR-J), notably on the increased attention and expectations for the prompt entry into force of Convention 108+ among member States. The Committee strongly encouraged all State Parties to sign and ratify Convention 108+ as soon as possible.
The Committee had an exchange of views on the new Action Plan facilitating the recognition and approval of CoE Model Contractual Clauses (MCC) and decided to proceed with the drafting of a guide and a comprehensive study on the gaps and complementarity of existing transborder transfer tools and instruments. The Committee has also benefitted from the presentation by Commissioner Alain Herrmann, of the Luxembourg DPA, on the latest development on certification, including at the level of the European Data Protection Board and decided to closely follow future developments and consider further steps under the Work Programme 2026-2029, if appropriate and relevant.
Ms Tamar Kaldani, Data Protection Commissioner of the Council of Europe presented also the latest developments with the her involvement, notably on the Resolution by the Spring Conference on the Establishment of a Cooperation Sub-Group adopted on 07 May 2026 in Antalya, Türkiye, and the next edition of the International Organization Workshop, co-organized with the EDPS to be held on 1-2 December 2026 in Strasbourg at the Council of Europe.
The Committee continued drafting the Guidelines on “Data Protection in the Context of Neurosciences” with contributions from the experts Mr Marcello Ienca (Technical University of Munich) and Mr Eduardo Bertoni (American University Washington College of Law). And the “Guidelines on Privacy and Data Protection in the Context of Large Language Models-based Systems” with contributions from the experts Ms Isabel Barberá (independent expert) and Ms Murielle Popa-Fabre (Responsible AI).
The Committee welcomed the participation of Mr Doszhan Mussaliyev, Vice Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan and thanked him for his presentation on the latest developments in the field of data protection in the country while granting observer status to the country.
The Committee took note of the information provided by the Observers, notably by Abu Dhabi Global Market Authority, Brazil, Ecuador, the Philippines, EDPB and Interpol, and welcomed their participation and the respective developments in their countries.
