The Accidental Americans Association filed a complaint with the European Commission on Thursday, 3 October, against France for breach of EU law.
The association believes that the U.S-France Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) of 14 November 2013, which enforces the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in France, violates the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) by requiring financial institutions to transmit the financial data of all their customers who are considered "American persons" to the US tax authorities, even if they no longer have any connection with the United States and are EU citizens.
The mechanism does not provide for any measures to protect personal data and does not allow data subjects to access the data they have transmitted, nor to correct any errors that may occur, she explains.
The European Parliament has already addressed the issue in a resolution of July 2018 (see EUROPE 12056/7) and called on the Commission and the EU Council to reach an agreement between the EU and the United States to address the negative effects of the FATCA law.
The association has decided to refer the case to the Commission following the rejection of its complaint by the French Conseil d'Etat on 19 July. The European Commission now has one year to assess the case and decide whether to initiate a formal infringement procedure against France. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)