Brussels, 15/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 14 October, the MEPs asked the European Commission to clarify the legal situation following the ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU on the 'Safe Harbor' system for the transfer of personal data to the United States (see EUROPE 11404).
Calling for immediate measures to guarantee proper protection of the data of EU citizens, the MEPs were, however, unable to agree on the preparation of a resolution, contrary to the wishes of the Christian Democrats, the EPP group lamented in a press release. Its call for a vote on a resolution was narrowly rejected (208 votes against, 177 in favour and 5 abstentions). The EPP regrets the fact that the European Parliament cannot have a position on this subject, also criticising the attitude of the ALDE, S&D and Greens/EFA groups.
The Dutch MEP Sopfie in 't Veld (ALDE) described the reaction of the EPP as misleading. “The position of the ALDE group has not changed. We have been - and still are - highly critical of 'Safe Harbor' for years”, she said. She went on to stress that the European Parliament had “repeatedly, and by a very large majority, called for 'Safe Harbor' to be cancelled, including with the ALDE vote”. The EP voted through resolution to this effect in January 2014 (see EUROPE 10999). “As far as I'm aware, all of the groups have maintained their position”, the MEP explained in a written note. ALDE cannot therefore see what a further resolution could add. “The Parliament's position remains unchanged, the Court of Justice's ruling has fallen and confirms this position: what would be the point of a resolution?”, the MEP asked, seeing no benefit in repeating the message when 'Safe Harbor' is dead in the water.
The GUE/NGL group feels that a new 'Safe Harbor' framework does not necessarily run counter to a set of binding rules, reiterating that all operators handling the data of Europeans have to observe European rules. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)