Opening remarks by Wojciech Wiewiórowski at the Data Protection Day 2026: Reset or refine?

Wojciech Wiewiórowski is the European Data Protection Supervisor This year’s conference, co-organised by the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) and the Council of Europe (CoE), will bring together policymakers, regulators, academics and practitioners to examine the lessons from Convention 108+ and EU data protection law and explore how they can inform the next generation of legislation. Building on the resilience of the European data protection framework, the conference will ask: How can we modernise without compromising core principles? How can ‘regulatory simplification’ coexist with strong safeguards for individuals? And how can Europe’s normative model continue to inspire a human-centric digital future?