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The decision taken today is viewed as a landmark in the reform of personal data protection in the bloc, said Slovenian Justice Minister Goran Klemenčič, who added that Slovenia was not happy with some of the solutions.

Compared to the 1995 EU legislation and Slovenia's acts, the protection afforded to individuals is greatly reduced in some areas, said the Slovenian minister.

The proposal will now be sent for coordination with the European Parliament, where it is expected to be amended.

While this could provide a platform for upgrading the failings in certain segments, Klemenčič said Slovenia voted against the proposal on principal. It was joining in its vote against by Austria.

One of the main sticking points for Slovenia is the unresolved issues of the relationship between personal data protection and freedom of speech and questions regarding the forwarding of personal data to third countries.

"The proposal does not allow member states to implement higher standards of personal data protection in their own laws than envisaged by the directive," he said.

A major concern is Article 6 of the draft directive which allows the managers of databases to reuse the personal data for a new purpose not compatible with the purpose for which it was obtained in the first place.

Currently such reuse is mostly limited to direct marketing and even then under strict conditions.

Many internet companies have collected mountains of personal information, said Klemenčič, whose use would be much broader under the proposal. "This is problematic for Slovenia," he added, highlighting that some corporations hold more personal data than states.

"It is unclear how this article remained in the compromise wording," unnamed experts participating in the drafting of the compromise proposal said.

While many countries have accepted that the draft will be subject to amendments in the European Parliament, Slovenia and Austria refused to back the motion as such.