The European Commissioner for Justice, Vera Jourova, was in Washington earlier this week to meet, amongst others, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, to discuss the 'CLOUD Act', which was adopted by the US Congress on Friday 23 March through a so-called 'Omnibus' federal expenditure law.
Readers may recall that the new American law will require American service providers to comply with American data disclosure orders, irrespective of where these data are stored (see EUROPE 11973).
“I expressed our willingness to conclude a partnership agreement, but for the EU as a whole”, she announced, in line with the mandate she received from the European justice ministers on 9 March (see EUROPE 11978). The Commissioner hopes to convince US authorities to grant the EU a derogation to the provisions that allow only bilateral agreements to be concluded with foreign governments.
The Commissioner also confirmed 17 April as the date for her highly anticipated legislative proposal on cross-border access to electronic evidence, which will be similar to the 'CLOUD Act', she said.
Privacy Shield. Another subject discussed by Commissioner Jourova and the American authorities was the trans-Atlantic data protection mechanism, the Privacy Shield.
European expectations have not changed and the Commission is growing impatient. “I said the same thing a year ago, in March of last year”, she said, referring to the permanent appointment of an independent ombudsman as soon as possible, a matter she discussed with the Trade Secretary, Wilbur Ross.
She said that she had received strong guarantees from Ross as to the importance of Privacy Shield for the Americans. He pledged to do all in his power to move things forward, she said.
On a more positive note, the Commissioner said that she approves of the three (of five required) new appointments to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board. The Commission is planning to publish its second assessment of the implementation of the Privacy Shield in September. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)