Brussels Roundtable

On Dec. 6, 2007, ARMA International organized a Roundtable on Information Governance and Records Management in Brussels. The event was very well attended by more than 80 representatives from the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, various stakeholder organizations, permanent representations of EU member states and industry being present. The event was also attended by a large number or records and information management professionals from all over Europe and beyond, working in many different sectors.

Carol Choksy, President of ARMA International, opened the roundtable by addressing the need for good records management in view of the loss of the personal details of 25 million individuals and 7 million families by the UK government. She stressed that an organization’s records and information are critical corporate assets and growing risk areas and that is vital that they be managed accordingly. According to Choksy, “Records and information management professionals have an intrinsic responsibility in handling and controlling access to information, making them the most logical organizational resource to provide structure to this continuing area of concern.” 

Corporate Governance and Records Management
Dr. Jürgen Tiedje, Head of Unit for Auditing at European DG Internal Market, provided an overview of the 8th Company Law Directive on Statutory Audit and its effects on how businesses from third countries need to comply, especially in view of EU data protection legislation. In this regard, Dr. Tiedje pointed out that the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) issued a consultation on inspections of foreign registered public accounting firms.

Tom Hopkinson, Legal Specialist Forensic Technology at KPMG Forensic, pointed out in his presentation that good records management is essential to achieve good governance. Organizations have experienced an information explosion creating challenges to organizations’ regulatory compliance, disaster recovery, information security, and data privacy as well as accessibility and operational effectiveness. One critical component of any solution, according to Hopkinson, involves C-level buy-in of records management.

Towards a European Freedom of Information Act
Dr. Bart Driessen, of the Council of the European Union Legal Services, explained how the council deals with access to information requests under Regulation 1049/2001.

HP’s Paolo Catolico offered some architectural guidance on how governmental organizations can improve the management of their information in view of freedom of information requests.

During the discussions, concern was expressed regarding the protection of information submitted to the European institutions by businesses. ARMA International also raised this issue in its response to the Commission’s Green Paper on the revision of Regulation 1049/2001.

E-discovery: Transatlantic Challenges in Litigation
Brussels-based attorney John Jennings explained the concept of e-discovery being the stage of litigation in the United States when each party is allowed to review the electronically stored information of the opposing party.

Mike Marsh, ARMA International’s Ambassador to Europe, outlined the significant and sometimes underestimated risks that e-discovery poses for European businesses that operate in the United States.

During the panel discussion, the issue of how European data protection rules relate to personal information transferred from Europe to the United States as part of e-discovery came up. The commission expressed the view that European data protection rules take precedence. However it remained unclear whether the U.S. authorities would accept this.

Protection of Personal Data: Practical Implications for Transatlantic Business
Thomas Zerdick, Policy Officer, Data Protection Unit, European Commission DG Justice Freedom & Security, gave an overview of European Data Protection legislation, focusing in particular on transfers to third countries.

ARMA International’s Choksy presented a case study of how the lack of technology interoperability within the student loan market makes data protection very challenging.

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