Brussels, 19/01/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 18 January, the European Commissioner for Justice, Vera Jourova, called on the US to strengthen the security guarantees for Europeans' personal data, while negotiations continued between the two parties to finalise the new version of Safe Harbor.
The two parties set out a three-month deadline last October, to reach a solution on the revision of Safe Harbor, a decision on the commercial exchange of personal data adopted in 2000, which the European Court of Justice invalidated on 6 October. This deadline expires at the end of January.
Speaking during an event organised by Microsoft, the Commissioner highlighted the fact that these guarantees to respect personal data were a condition for re-establishing trust and legal security in transatlantic data exchange instruments. The European leader returned to the subject of new European personal data protection rules that were the subject of an agreement between the EP member states last December. She explained that the EU and US had now entered a “crucial phase” in the negotiations involving the new version of the Safe Harbor decision, following the precedent set by the European Court of Justice's annulment.
Commissioner Jourova believes that only a comprehensive approach based on clear legal commitments will be enough to ensure Europeans' protection that is equivalent to what they have in the EU. The Commissioner asserted that “We have worked intensely over the past few weeks to tackle the final pending questions, such as the public authorities' access (today to exchange as part of Safe Harbor, Ed), appeal possibilities for Europeans, monitoring and implementation”. Discussions will “continue this week and meetings will take place at different levels”, she explained, as well as during the backdrop to the Davos Forum.
Commissioner Jourova pointed out that the Europeans expect that on the questions regarding overall monitoring, as highlighted by the Court in October, the US authorities will provide guarantees on the principles of proportionality and necessity whereby US security agencies' access to Safe Harbor is not prohibited but will need to be done according to necessary and proportionate investigations. She added “We are also asking for greater transparency on the limits set out by the security services collecting this data… We also need guarantees that there are effective legal controls on access, by the public authorities, to this personal data, for reasons of national security, application of the law and reasons of public interest”.
Commissioner Jourova also emphasised that the US Congress still need to adopt the Judicial Redress Act which would enable Europeans to submit complaints to US courts in the event of incorrect use of their data. She pointed out that this adoption remained a condition for the implementation of the transatlantic framework agreement on personal data, finalised in 2015 between the two sides. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)