Brussels, 29/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the European Commission denied the basis of the concerns expressed by the United States towards the "standard clauses" taken in the framework of a "new Directive" on data protection that could damage Americans multinationals and who call for the delaying of the entry into force. In a letter sent on 23 March to the Commission, the American Treasury and Trade Departments affirm sharing the concern of numerous multinational companies, which feel that the adoption of these standard clauses would introduce uncertainty as to the use of contracts. Jonathan Todd, the spokesperson for the Internal Market, felt that the American administration has not fully understood the optional nature - and not obligatory - of a clause model that we are preparing to facilitate implementation by European companies of the Directive on data protection. This Directive, which entered into force in 1998, foresees that the personal data exchanged with third countries benefits from suitable protection. To guarantee this suitability, European companies which pass on data to US companies have taken the habit of including in their contracts clauses that impose protection measures. In a concern for harmonisation, the European Commission recently drafted a standard clause to act as a model for companies. The Member States have unanimously approved this text (with the exception of Belgium) within the 131 Committee, created by Article 131 of the 1998 Directive on data protection. The European Parliament must still provide its opinion.