Recently, the European Commission endorsed draft horizontal provisions for cross-border data flows and personal data protection in trade agreements – as personal data is a fundamental right, it is not something which can be the subject of negotiation in EU trade deals.

Relatedly, the Article 29 Working Party (A29WP) consultation on the guidelines under Article 49 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) concerning cross-border data transfer derogations has closed, paving the way for the guidance to be finalised and issued later this year.

Cross-border data flows

Cross-border data flows are key to most organisations, which include moving around employee information, sharing financial details for online transactions, and analysing individuals’ browsing habits to serve them targeted advertisements.

The European Commission is seeking to break down barriers to the flow of data between businesses in future trade deals as part of its push towards a more digital economy, while at the same time safeguarding these key fundamental data protection principles. The preferred approach to facilitate the ongoing trade negotiations and to legitimise cross-border data flows are ‘adequacy decisions’ – which means the European Commission (the Commission) identified the third country (which is outside the European Economic Area) as providing adequate protections to those data protection laws in the EU.
Continue Reading European Commission approves provisions for cross-border data flows while consultation on GDPR Article 49 guidance closes