Brussels, 07/07/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is presently examining the European Parliament's doubts over the "Safe Harbour" agreement on the protection of private data, negotiated with the United States by the Commissioner responsible for the Internal Market, Fritz Bolkenstein. According to his spokesperson, Jonathan Todd, the Commissioner said he was "very disappointed with the result of the Parliament's vote." During the debate in Strasbourg, he stated that this point of view put him in a "difficult position" and that it would be out of the question to renegotiate the agreement (see, among others, EUROPE of 6 July, p.13).
The resolution adopted by the Parliament foresees that the agreement must be partially renegotiated by the Commission so as to foresee a possibility for private judicial appeals and an agreement forcing companies to pay compensation in cases were data has been illegally processed. The resolution adds that if the Commission does not respect the level of protection required, the Parliament may challenge the decision before the Court of Justice. Concluding, with the Member State's consensus, the agreement with the United States, the Commission believes that the secure "Safe Harbour" databases are sufficient, with regard to the Directive on the protection of data, to protect information of a private nature on consumers and companies. The American system is based on the principal of self-regulation, while within the EU, the system is regulated by law. The Parliament is not formally consulted on the agreement (which stems from an autonomous decision by the Commission), but they could appeal before the Court of Justice claiming that the Commission is exceeding its competence.