European Union regulators won’t hesitate to step in if a new transatlantic data-transfer pact throws up problems, the bloc’s justice chief promised as the EU moves toward ending the legal limbo that’s imperiled information exchanges potentially worth trillions of dollars.
(Bloomberg) — European Union regulators won’t hesitate to step in if a new transatlantic data-transfer pact throws up problems, the bloc’s justice chief promised as the EU moves toward ending the legal limbo that’s imperiled information exchanges potentially worth trillions of dollars.
While the European Commission is convinced the new accord now ticks all the boxes to protect EU citizens’ rights, the watchdog will monitor its implementation very closely, EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders told the European Parliament ahead of a vote by lawmakers.
“Rest assured that the commission will of course be particularly vigilant to ensure the implementation of this new legal framework, and won’t hesitate to react in case of any problems,” Reynders told the assembly on Wednesday evening.
EU regulators in December unveiled proposals to replace a previous pact that was torpedoed by the bloc’s top court over fears of weak protections against US spies accessing people’s data.
It followed months of negotiations with the US, which yielded an executive order by President Joe Biden and US pledges to ensure that EU citizens’ data is safe once it’s shipped across the Atlantic.
The pact is due to take effect by the middle of this year.
Companies that depend on shipping data to the US have been operating in a legal limbo since the EU court toppled the previous system in 2020.
The uncertainty has led Meta Platforms Inc. to threaten a total withdrawal from the EU as it now also faces a ban of a separate system to transfer data to the US, that most companies were forced to revert to.
Meta Braces for Fine, Ban in Clash Over EU-US Data Transfers
The US first needs to implement the executive order before the new data flows pact can take effect.
It also still requires the approval by the EU assembly, even if that vote isn’t binding. The EU’s panel of national data watchdogs in February backed the new deal, but warned that it had remaining concerns about the right of EU people whose data is transferred.
“I consider that we have obtained very significant changes to the US legal framework, Reynders said Wednesday.
“The US have changed the rules governing the operations of their intelligence agencies,” which wasn’t the case before, he said.
“This should not be underestimated in an area as sensitive, for any country, as national security.”
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