The European Commissioner for Justice, Vera Jourova, was in Japan from 13 to 15 December, for a series of meetings aiming to accelerate political dialogue on an adequacy decision on data protection. Japan and the EU hope to reach an agreement as soon as possible in 2018, an economic partnership agreement (EPA) having been concluded on 8 December (see EUROPE 11922).
“By ensuring the free flow of personal data, a simultaneous finding adequacy will complement and enhance the benefits of the Japan-EU EPA, while strengthening the protection of the fundamental right to privacy”, the two sides said in a joint press release issued on Friday 15 December.
Commissioner Jourova and Haruhi Kumazawa, the Japanese Commissioner of the Personal Information Protection, have agreed to move to the next stage of talks. They took stock of significant progress made in recent months and explored solutions to bridge the differences between the two systems.
“We have made progress, but we are not there yet”, Jourova said in a speech the same day, before the Japanese Business Federation (Keidanren) in Tokyo. Although she flagged up the many points of commonality between the legal frameworks of the two sides, she stressed that questions still outstanding concern the protection elements that are indispensable in any adequacy decision. She went on to add that the solutions to be agreed upon would have to be legally binding and enforceable.
“If we show goodwill and creativity in finding solutions, I am confident that we can adopt adequacy findings next year”, she concluded.
Discussions will continue at the next high-level meeting between the two sides, to be held in Brussels in early 2018 with a view to finalising the negotiations. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)