Brussels, 04/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 4 November, the European Commission confirmed that the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker and the Vice President of the US, Joe Biden, held a telephone conversation on Tuesday 3 November, regarding the repercussions of the European Court of Justice ruling on the Safe Harbor initiative. On 6 October, the Court invalidated the transfer of data between the EU and US that has been in force since the year 2000.
The two leaders agreed on the urgency of finalising the negotiations as soon as possible on a new “Safe Harbor”, which they believe vital for their two economies. On Tuesday, the Commission confirmed that Safe Harbor had been one of the subjects they had discussed.
Commissioner Vera Jourova, in charge of the dossier, is expected to travel to the US next week to discuss how the negotiations are progressing. The Commission had requested that the US meet 13 recommendations to ensure that the private life of European citizens is improved in this connection. The ruling of the Court, however, sets out new demands on the Americans, particularly with regard to US intelligence agencies' access to the personal data transferred within a framework that is supposed to be strictly commercial. In the meantime, the European Commission explained on 6 October that companies could use other ways of making transfers to the US. The invalidation of Safe Harbor will, nonetheless, mainly have an impact on small companies that will now find themselves in a legal grey area, given that the biggest companies will have an army of legal experts and will be able to adapt to the new situation by more easily resorting to these other instruments. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)