Sector Committees
Sector committees have been established within the Commission, each of them ensuring in a specific sector that privacy is protected in data processing operations. They are made up of Commission members and experts familiar with the sector in question. There are currently six sector committees.
The sector committees were established within the Commission by Belgian law, either by the general Privacy Act or an act concerning a specific sector.
Apart from a few exceptions, half of the sector committee members are also Commission members and half of them are experts familiar with the sector.
The Commission appoints its own representatives. The other members of the sector committees are appointed by the House of Representatives. Members have a renewable six-year mandate. One way or another, all members of the committees are experts when it comes to privacy protection and personal data management.
In principle, the sector committees are chaired by the Commission's President.
The President of every sector committee must make sure that the decisions taken by his committee do not contradict the Commission's position in general. He can therefore suspend a committee case and submit it to the Commission.
The sector committees, in their own sector, ensure that privacy is protected when personal data are processed. The committees' competences may differ, however.
The sector committees draw up an annual activity report.
Unless another arrangement has been made, the sector committees are supported by the Commission's secretariat.
