SAFE HARBOUR: Businesses Need Immediate Reactions

On the 5th of October, the European Court of Justice issued a judgment concerning the Safe Harbour agreement that says that the agreement is invalid and it cannot be used any longer. The agreement enabled the data transfer from the EU to the United States freely, because American companies that signed this agreement agreed to meet the European data protection conditions that are stricter than those in the US.

However, the decision of the court claims that the Safe Harbour is not valid as it concluded that American surveillance authorities had access to personal data of European users. The judgment literally caused a shock to both European and American businesses.

The main reason is that the decision created a state of legal uncertainty, because the Safe Harbour framework has been used by several thousands of companies including small and medium-sized ones. Now that the agreement is invalid, companies have to find other ways how to transfer data from across the Atlantic. Furthermore, the judgment could cause disruptions to the European single market as well, as all the member states can have completely different approaches to international data transfer.

The business community, therefore, calls on the European Commission to push current negotiations on the new Safe Harbour agreement forward and create a framework that would respect fundamental human rights and provide legal certainty for the companies.