The Article 29 Working Party (Art. 29 WP), in full the Working Party on the Protection of Individuals with regard to the Processing of Personal Data,[1] was an independent European Union advisory body on data protection and privacy. It was made up of a representative from the data protection authority of each EU Member State, the European Data Protection Supervisor and the European Commission.
The composition and purpose of Art. 29 WP was set out in Article 29 of the Data Protection Directive (Directive 95/46/EC), and it was launched in 1996. It was replaced by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) on 25 May 2018 in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Regulation (EU) 2016/679).[2]
Its main stated missions were to:
The Working Party elected a chairman and two vice-chairmen, each with a two-year term of office. Their term of office was renewable only once.[4] The Working Party's secretariat was provided by the European Commission.