Vulcan Insight | Tentative agreement on new EU-US data sharing pact

In the margins of US President Joe Biden’s visit to Brussels last week, he and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a somewhat surprising agreement on a revamped transatlantic data sharing agreement “in principle”. The agreement comes after the European Court of Justice struck down the original 2013 Safe Harbor and 2020 Privacy Shield agreements.

The EU’s highest Court repeatedly struck down the transatlantic agreements over concerns that European citizen’s private data would not be safe from the prying eyes of US national security agencies.

Speaking on the announcement, President von der Leyen said that “I am pleased that we found an agreement in principle on a new framework for transatlantic data flows. This will enable predictable and trustworthy data flows between the EU and US, safeguarding privacy and civil liberties.”

“This framework underscores our shared commitment to privacy, to data protection, and to the rule of law,” President Joe Biden said, adding the smooth flow of data would “help facilitate $7.1 trillion in economic relationships with the EU.”

However, while the two Presidents announced an agreement “in principle,” it highlights that, while a political agreement has been found, not yet all technical issues have been resolved.

With Austrian data protection activist Max Schrems, who was instrumental in bringing down both the Privacy Shield and Safe Harbor agreement, already warning that he’s prepared to challenge the new agreement “if it is not in line with EU law,” regulators have to ensure every word is watertight. In a statement, Schrems elaborated that “in the end, the Court of Justice will decide a third time. We expect this to be back at the Court within months from a final decision.”

Compliments of Vulcan Consulting – a member of the EACCNY.