On Thursday 5 July, MEPs will give their position on the draft resolution drawn up by Claude Moraes (S&D, United Kingdom). This resolution concludes that the level of protection offered to European citizens by the transatlantic data protection mechanism, the Privacy Shield, is not adequate.
Approved by a small majority during the Parliamentary committee on 11 June (see EUROPE 12039), the current text calls for the suspension of the Privacy Shield unless the US fully complies with it by 1 September 2018.
From the beginning, the EPP Group criticised what it regarded as a too negative evaluation of the mechanism (see EUROPE 12000). It therefore submitted four amendments, including one that insists that the US government takes all necessary measures to fully comply during the second annual Commission assessment (in October) rather than demand a complete suspension.
In a press release on Wednesday 4 July, Axel Voss (EPP, Germany) stated "We Europeans do not throw in the towel at the first hurdle. We turn challenges into opportunities. And that is what we should do with the EU-US Privacy Shield".
The date limit on 1 September will also be a crucial factor for the ECR group, which will, if it is maintained, not hesitate to vote against the resolution as a whole. It should be recalled that during the Parliamentary committee vote, it was adopted by just one vote.
The chances that these amendments will be adopted are relatively slight. The ALDE, Greens/EFA, S&D and the GUE/NGL are undoubtedly expected to vote against. Apart from support from the ECR, the EPP has, according to several sources, received a certain amount of isolated support from MEPs in the ALDE and S&D. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)