The Data Protection and Medical Research in Europe: PRIVIREAL series focuses on the 'Privacy in Research Ethics and Law' EC-funded project examining the implementation of Directive 95/46/EC on data protection in relation to medical research and the role of ethics committees in European countries. The series consists of five separate volumes following the complete development of the PRIVIREAL project. This volume relates to the first stage of the project regarding the implementation of the Data Protection Directive, in particular in the area of medical research. It contains an introduction and overview of this topic, keynote papers addressing specific questions on the subject, and a report on both the general implementation of the Directive and the implementation in relation to medical research in 26 European countries. The book will be invaluable for those people with an interest in data protection, medical research and their implications for each other. It lays open the actual situation across Europe, including both New Member States and Newly Associated Member States.