The European Union and the United States have reached a tentative agreement to avoid major disruption to transatlantic data flows that had been jeopardized by a ruling by the EU’s highest court, the head of the European Commission and the US president Friday.
Data transfers between the EU and the US have been at risk of major disruption since a 2020 Court of Justice of the EU ruling invalidated an earlier regulation aimed at balancing EU privacy concerns with US surveillance measures.
“Today we agreed to an unprecedented level of data privacy and security protection for citizens,” Joe Biden said at a joint press conference in Brussels with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
“I am very pleased that we have reached an agreement in principle on a new framework for transatlantic data flows,” said von der Leyen. “This will enable predictable and reliable data flows between the EU and the US, while ensuring privacy and civil liberties,” she added, without elaborating.
Data privacy advocates said they would study the pact. “The final text will take more time, once it is available we will analyze it thoroughly, together with our US legal experts. If it does not comply with EU law, we or another group will probably challenge it” , said activist Max Schrems. †
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