A representative of the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection has been elected Vice-Chair of the Bureau of the Consultative Committee of the CoE Convention on Personal Data Protection (Convention 108 for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data).

In that regard, Commissioner RodoljubSabic said the following:

"I am very satisfied because my assistant NevenaRuzic, Assistant Secretary General of the Commissioner's Office, has been elected second Vice-Chair of the Bureau of the Consultative Committee of the CoE Convention on Personal Data Protection. Objectively, appointment to such a high position is very important recognitionfor both her personally and for the Institution of the Commissioner and for our country.

The Bureau of the Consultative Committee is a working body consisting of seven members elected in person for the period of two years among representatives of all 46 countries that are current parties to the Convention 108.This Convention is the first and fundamental international agreement on personal data protection.

Membership in the Bureau, and particularly the position of Vice-Chair of the Bureau, are particularly interesting at the moment when the Bureau is preparing documents for work of the Consultative Committee on modernization of the Convention 108, revision of the Recommendation on Personal Data Protection for Employment Purposes, the Recommendation on Data Processing in the field of Health Care and a number of other internationally relevant documents. Experiences in that field will, of course, have great benefits for Serbia internally, because Serbia will soon be facing very serious and onerousactivities in connection with implementation of European personal data protection standards in its legal order. In this context, having in mind Serbia's economic situation, it is important to note that all activities of the members of the Bureau are financed by the Council of Europe and that they in no way burden Serbia's budget.

Mr. Jean-Philippe Walter (Assistant Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner of Switzerland) has been elected Chairperson of the Bureau, while Ms Alessandra Pierucci(representative of the Italian Data Protection Authority) has been elected first Vice-Chair."