The European Commissioner for Justice, Věra Jourová, warned US authorities against the temptation to negotiate bilateral agreements on access to electronic evidence with some Member States on Thursday 25 July at a hearing before the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee.
It is necessary to “ensure that all citizens of the European Union are treated in the same way”, said Mrs Jourová. She spoke out against any bilateral agreement between the United States and certain Member States, warning MEPs that such an approach would deprive the European Parliament of any right of scrutiny.
In mid-June, Europeans and Americans launched transatlantic negotiations on cross-border access to electronic evidence held by a service provider in criminal proceedings (see EUROPE 12278/20).
Objective: to avoid conflicts between European regulations governing personal data protection and the extraterritorial application of the US ‘CLOUD Act’. The United States requires its digital platforms to transmit data to the authorities of the requesting country, regardless of where the data is stored.
On the previous day, the European Commissioner for the Security Union, Julian King, urged MEPs to get up and running to start negotiations with the EU Council on the 'electronic evidence' regulation. This dossier has been transferred to the newly constituted European Parliament (see EUROPE 12227/8).
Whatever happens, the transatlantic agreement will apply after the European Union has adopted a legislative framework on the subject, Mrs Jourová stressed.
Privacy Shield. The Commissioner also mentioned another transatlantic issue, namely the implementation of the ‘Privacy Shield’ mechanism for the transfer of personal data to the United States.
“4,700 companies are now certified”, Mrs Jourová said. Among the progress made in the United States, she mentioned the appointment of a permanent ombudsman to deal with complaints from Europeans about the processing of their personal data. She indicated that she would travel to the United States in September to review the situation.
Mrs Jourová hoped that the future European Chief Prosecutor will be appointed “in the autumn”, while the European Parliament has just reiterated its support for Romania's Laura Codruţa Kövesi (see EUROPE 12300/24). Responding to the MEPs who were questioning her, she said it was possible that the body would be in place in early 2020. Despite the reluctance of Member States who do not consider it competent, the Commission is already working on the internal procedures for this emerging European body.
Finally, the Commissioner presented the Commission's analysis on structural deficiencies with regard to compliance with European rules against money laundering and terrorist financing (see EUROPE 12303/2). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)