The European Union has announced a new deal with the United States regarding the transfer of transatlantic datawhich is likely to put an end to several months of legal uncertainty after a ruling in July 2020 annulled the existing agreement between the two, known as Privacy Shield, and which has led to the European data protection agencies issuing orders against the flow of personal data through services and products such as Google Analytics or Stripe. However, the general data flow has never been interrupted.
This agreement was announced at a joint press appearance by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyenand the United States President Joe Bidenin which the strengthening of ties between the two areas was discussed, as well as the agreement between the US and the EU for the US to increase the supply of liquefied gas to Europe and for Europe to reduce its dependence on Russian gas some countries.
Úrsula von der Leyen has stated that both parties have arrived «to an agreement to accept in principle a new framework for transatlantic data flows. This will allow predictable and reliable data flows between the European Union and the United States, safeguarding privacy and civil liberties. I want to thank Commissioner Reynders and Secretary Aimondo for their tireless efforts over the last few months to find an effective and balanced solution. It is another step in strengthening our agreement. We manage to balance security and the right to privacy and data protection«.
This agreement comes, according to von del Leyen, as part of the need to continue adapting democracies to a world in the process of change, something very notable in terms of digitization, a process in which the protection of personal data and privacy have become a particularly important point.
The details of the agreement reached are not yet known, although it is expected that they will be revealed in the coming days. In this way, it will be known how the two parties have negotiated to close the deference between their legal systems, which are quite different. Today it is not clear that they have managed to do so, and it is not known to what extent this new agreement will be nothing more than a mere political gesture.
