Brussels, 26/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - Although American President Barack Obama made not a single reference to the actions of the NSA or efforts to reinforce the protection of personal data at the press conference to close the EU-United States summit on Wednesday 26 March, the Europeans nonetheless established from his short trip to Belgium that work to reform the Safe Harbour commercial agreement, which manages the transfer and use of personal data by the American internet giants, will be completed by summer 2014, as called for in November of last year by Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding. Its success, on the other hand, is likely to be less absolute on the transatlantic framework agreement to lay down and consolidate data protection standards for all agreements and transfers of personal data to be made in the future in the fields of legal and police affairs.
The European Commission wants this agreement to contain, from summer of this year onwards, a clear provision on European citizens' right of recourse before American courts, which they currently do not enjoy. The final joint declaration was more vague. Both sides undertake to conclude the negotiations as quickly as possible and to resolve all problems faced (such as bringing actions before the American courts), but no precise date was put forward. The president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, announced an agreement providing for “equal rights for Europeans” by the summer. However, “no date was discussed at the meeting”, said one source, who added that Van Rompuy had mainly tried to bring a bit of pressure to bear on his American counterpart over the timetable.
The American president had actually done his job on Tuesday, in a manner of speaking, as his administration announced a reform of the activities of the NSA and an end to the gathering of telephone data… in the United States. Proof of the importance which has been attached to this subject is the fact that Commissioner Viviane Reding was not invited to the working lunch, unlike her colleagues for Trade and Foreign Affairs, Karel De Gucht and Catherine Ashton, whose portfolios were described as more critical. Via her Twitter feed, the Luxembourg commissioner said that the work was making progress and that the “reciprocity of rights” for Europeans was on track. However, she added, “the American law should now follow words”.
Visas. The conclusions of the EU-US summit raise the issue of visas, which are still required for the nationals of a few member states (Bulgaria and Romania) when they wish to travel to the United States. Both sides have undertaken to resolve the issue “as quickly as possible” to bring in visa exemptions for all of the EU member states.
Both sides stressed the importance of the PNR agreements and those on the transfer of inter-bank data (SWIFT/TFTP) in the fight against terrorism, which have been described as “critical instruments” in the transatlantic relationship. The European Parliament will be delighted to hear that, given that it called on 12 March for the suspension of the SWIFT/TFTP agreement on the grounds that the NSA was illegally accessing that database. (SP)