Cross-border data flows between the U.S. and Europe are the largest in the world and are fundamental to the largest trading relationship in the world, valued at approximately 1.3 trillion U.S. dollars annually. Transatlantic data flows account for over one-half of Europe’s data flows and about half of U.S. data flows. The EU-U.S. Privacy Shield and SCCs are both important mechanisms for international business operations, allowing firms around the world to provide robust assurances on the protection of personal information and enabling the transparent and necessary movement of data seamlessly across borders.
As representatives of the global business community, we would like to take the opportunity to comment on the 16 July ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the so-called “Schrems II” case (C- 311/18), which invalidated the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield agreement as a mechanism to transfer data between the European Union (EU) and the United States (U.S.). We welcome the Court’s upholding of Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) as a valid transfer mechanism. We encourage the U.S. and EU governments to work together to ensure that companies can fully and safely rely on data transfer mechanisms, to ensure the long-term viability of SCCs in order to avoid legal uncertainty and economic harm, in full respect of the Court’s judgement and fundamental rights.
The Joint Industry Letter can be downloaded below.
