On Saturday 28 October, in the margins of the G7 trade ministers’ meeting in Osaka, the European Union and Japan reached an agreement on cross-border data flows.
In practical terms, this agreement should make it possible to process data more quickly in a number of sectors, such as transport, e-commerce and finance, and reduce administrative and storage costs.
To this end, the EU/Japan agreement provides for the removal of data localisation requirements to “allow companies to avoid having to physically store their data locally”.
This point, the Commission explains, will exempt companies from an obligation that would entail additional storage costs, particularly as some of them would have to “build and maintain data storage facilities in several locations and duplicate the data they use” in order to comply with the rules.
Negotiations between Japan and the EU on this issue began in October 2022. As soon as the agreement is ratified, its content will be included in the existing trade agreement between the EU and Japan. Other agreements should be concluded in the future, notably with Singapore, with whom negotiations have already begun. The EU is also due to begin talks with South Korea shortly. (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)