Didier Reynders, the European Commissioner for Justice, and Gina Raimondo, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, released a joint press statement on March 25. In it, they say they will intensify negotiations on an enhanced EU-US Privacy Shield to comply with the July 16, 2020 ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Schrems II case.
Today, EU Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, and U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, made the following statement regarding the negotiations on transatlantic data privacy flows:
"The U.S. Government and the European Commission have decided to intensify negotiations on an enhanced EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework to comply with the July 16, 2020 judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Schrems II case.
These negotiations underscore our shared commitment to privacy, data protection and the rule of law and our mutual recognition of the importance of transatlantic data flows to our respective citizens, economies, and societies.
Our partnership on facilitating trusted data flows will support economic recovery after the global pandemic, to the benefit of citizens and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic."
The EU-U.S. Privacy Shield was a mechanism for transfers of personal data from EU companies to companies in the U.S. that adhered to the mechanism. It was in place since 2016.
On July 16, 2020, the European Court of Justice invalidated the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield while confirming the validity of the EU Standard Contractual Clauses for the transfer of personal data to processors outside the EU/EEA ("SCCs").
In August 2020 the European Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce have initiated discussions to evaluate the potential for an enhanced EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework to comply with the judgment of the Court in the Schrems II case.
