Statement by EU Commissioner Věra Jourová on the finalisation of the EU-US negotiations on the data protection "Umbrella Agreement"

Met dank overgenomen van Europese Commissie (EC) i, gepubliceerd op dinsdag 8 september 2015.

"I am very pleased that today we have finalised negotiations with the US on high data protection standards for transatlantic law enforcement cooperation.

Robust cooperation between the EU and the US to fight crime and terrorism is crucial to keep Europeans safe. But all exchanges of personal data, such as criminal records, names or addresses, need to be governed by strong data protection rules. This is what the Umbrella Agreement will ensure.

Once in force, this agreement will guarantee a high level of protection of all personal data when transferred between law enforcement authorities across the Atlantic. It will in particular guarantee that all EU citizens have the right to enforce their data protection rights in US courts - as called for in the political guidelines of President Juncker last year.

The finalisation of the Umbrella Agreement negotiations is therefore an important step to strengthen the fundamental right to privacy effectively and to rebuild trust in EU-US data flows.

The text of the Umbrella Agreement has been initialled this evening by the chief negotiators from the EU Commission and the US Government. I now look forward to the swift adoption of the Judicial Redress Bill by the US Congress, which would enable us to finally sign and conclude the Umbrella Agreement.

I am also confident that we will be able to soon conclude our work on strengthening the Safe Harbour Arrangement for exchange of data for commercial purposes. We continue to work with determination with our US counterparts on the final details."

For more information on the Umbrella agreement see the Q&A

STATEMENT/15/5610

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