The controversial EU-US data sharing arrangement, which emerged from the
ashes of the invalidated Safe Harbour, will undergo its first progress
report from the European Commission after just over a year in existence
today.
More than 2,400 US companies, including Microsoft, Facebook and Google,
have signed up to the pact, which allows them to legally transfer
everything from pictures to payslips across the Atlantic without
breaching the EU's robust laws on personal privacy.
The arrangement has been hailed as providing a bespoke framework for the flow of commercial data between Europe and third countries. Today's inaugural review will begin in Washington when EU commissioner Vera Jourova meets Wilbur Ross, Donald Trump's commerce secretary, before heading off to Silicon Valley to ask Google and Facebook about life under the new regime.
Speaking to the FT, Ms Jourova said she expects the fact-finding mission to identify holes and make “some proposals for improvement but I don’t expect we will reopen negotiations again”. One lawyer thinks Brussels will give Privacy Shield a "B grade” when the report is published next month.
But not all is well. The Commission has fired a warning shot to President Trump that it could soon run out of patience with Washington's delays in making key senior appointments — such as an independent ombudsman — to oversee the pact. “We are patient but cannot be patient forever”, said Ms Jourova.
The tough talk reflects unease in Europe about relations with the new White House administration.
After a difficult start to life (MEPs initially rejected Privacy Shield in a non-binding vote and the pact is already subject to two legal challenges), the framework faces a fresh test in the shape of a president who is unapologetic about prioritizing national security and business interest over personal privacy, the environment and concerns for the niceties of international diplomacy.
Read more: Guarding the EU’s privacy shield against Trump
The arrangement has been hailed as providing a bespoke framework for the flow of commercial data between Europe and third countries. Today's inaugural review will begin in Washington when EU commissioner Vera Jourova meets Wilbur Ross, Donald Trump's commerce secretary, before heading off to Silicon Valley to ask Google and Facebook about life under the new regime.
Speaking to the FT, Ms Jourova said she expects the fact-finding mission to identify holes and make “some proposals for improvement but I don’t expect we will reopen negotiations again”. One lawyer thinks Brussels will give Privacy Shield a "B grade” when the report is published next month.
But not all is well. The Commission has fired a warning shot to President Trump that it could soon run out of patience with Washington's delays in making key senior appointments — such as an independent ombudsman — to oversee the pact. “We are patient but cannot be patient forever”, said Ms Jourova.
The tough talk reflects unease in Europe about relations with the new White House administration.
After a difficult start to life (MEPs initially rejected Privacy Shield in a non-binding vote and the pact is already subject to two legal challenges), the framework faces a fresh test in the shape of a president who is unapologetic about prioritizing national security and business interest over personal privacy, the environment and concerns for the niceties of international diplomacy.
Read more: Guarding the EU’s privacy shield against Trump
