Mr Buttarelli pledged to avoid simply expressing a negative opinion, and declared: "We would like to be more proactive by focussing on potential solutions, for example what an 'essentially equivalent test' really means”. He added that Privacy Shield should be analyzed and improved with the new Data Protection Regulation in mind, not the Safe Harbor. On the point he added that "“Companies cannot pick and choose the lighter regime of the Privacy Shield if they are doing other data processing. In that case they must still respect the GDPR in its entirety.”
 
In his speech to the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), while presenting his annual report, Buttarelli insisted on the importance of a full and effective implementation of the Data Protection Regulation. He specified that it was paramount "that we close the package with equally effective agreements on Regulation 45/2001 and the ePrivacy Directive. Only then will we be able to ensure that the EU upholds its promise of effective data protection for the digital age."