Biobanking Across Europe Post-GDPR: A Deliberately Fragmented Landscape

This chapter seeks to provide an insight into how the regulatory discretion the GDPR has left to the Member States has been used. It reviews the biobank regulatory environment; whether and how derogations under Article 89(2) GDPR are enabled; the legal basis for scientifc research and role of consent in biobanking post-GDPR; the balance between individual rights and public interest in national law; and fnally, the GDPR’s impact and future possibilities for biobanking. While in exercising their national self-determination the Member States have some possibility to tailor data protection requirements corresponding to their values and aspirations, it risks coming with implications, jeopardizing collaborative research. At this point, it could be argued that Research Ethics Committees (RECs) may have a considerable role to play in navigating the gap between the legal and ethical requirements in both a national as well as a cross-border context.