Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

SECTION 5 Restrictions

Article 25 Restrictions

1. Legal acts adopted on the basis of the Treaties or, in matters relating to the operation of the Union institutions and bodies, internal rules laid down by the latter may restrict the application of Articles 14 to 22, 35, and 36, as well as Article 4 in so far as its provisions correspond to the rights and obligations provided for in Articles 14 to 22, when such a restriction respects the essence of the fundamental rights and freedoms and is a necessary and proportionate measure in a democratic society to safeguard:

(a) the national security, public security or defence of the Member States;

(b) the prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties, including the safeguarding against and the prevention of threats to public security;

(c) other important objectives of general public interest of the Union or of a Member State, in particular the objectives of the common foreign and security policy of the Union or an important economic or financial interest of the Union or of a Member State, including monetary, budgetary and taxation matters, public health and social security;

(d) the internal security of Union institutions and bodies, including of their electronic communications networks;

(e) the protection of judicial independence and judicial proceedings;

(f) the prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of breaches of ethics for regulated professions;

(g) a monitoring, inspection or regulatory function connected, even occasionally, to the exercise of official authority in the cases referred to in points (a) to (c);

(h) the protection of the data subject or the rights and freedoms of others;

(i) the enforcement of civil law claims.

2. In particular, any legal act or internal rule referred to in paragraph 1 shall contain specific provisions, where relevant, as to:

(a) the purposes of the processing or categories of processing;

(b) the categories of personal data;

(c) the scope of the restrictions introduced;

(d) the safeguards to prevent abuse or unlawful access or transfer;

(e) the specification of the controller or categories of controllers;

(f) the storage periods and the applicable safeguards taking into account the nature, scope and purposes of the processing or categories of processing; and

(g) the risks to the rights and freedoms of data subjects.

3. Where personal data are processed for scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes, Union law, which may include internal rules adopted by Union institutions and bodies in matters relating to their operation, may provide for derogations from the rights referred to in Articles 17, 18, 20 and 23 subject to the conditions and safeguards referred to in Article 13 in so far as such rights are likely to render impossible or seriously impair the achievement of the specific purposes, and such derogations are necessary for the fulfilment of those purposes.

4. Where personal data are processed for archiving purposes in the public interest, Union law, which may include internal rules adopted by Union institutions and bodies in matters relating to their operation, may provide for derogations from the rights referred to in Articles 17, 18, 20, 21, 22 and 23 subject to the conditions and safeguards referred to in Article 13 in so far as such rights are likely to render impossible or seriously impair the achievement of the specific purposes, and such derogations are necessary for the fulfilment of those purposes.

5. Internal rules referred to in paragraphs 1, 3 and 4 shall be clear and precise acts of general application, intended to produce legal effects vis-à-vis data subjects, adopted at the highest level of management of the Union institutions and bodies and subject to publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

6. If a restriction is imposed pursuant to paragraph 1, the data subject shall be informed in accordance with Union law of the principal reasons on which the application of the restriction is based and of his or her right to lodge a complaint with the European Data Protection Supervisor.

7. If a restriction imposed pursuant to paragraph 1 is relied upon to deny access to the data subject, the European Data Protection Supervisor shall, when investigating the complaint, only inform him or her of whether the data have been processed correctly and, if not, whether any necessary corrections have been made.

8. Provision of the information referred to in paragraphs 6 and 7 of this Article and in Article 45(2) may be deferred, omitted or denied if it would cancel the effect of the restriction imposed pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article.