The European Court of Justice (ECJ) will decide today, 16 July, in the Schrems II case, whether the standard contractual clauses of the European Commission and, if applicable, the EU-US Privacy Shield rule will apply to the transfer of personal data to countries outside the European Union.
eco Managing Director Alexander Rabe says:
“The data protection agreement of the EU-US Privacy Shield between the EU and the US or the so-called standard contractual clauses form an indispensable legal basis for the international transfer of personal data. Without them, there are few alternatives to legally transfer these data from the European Union or the United Kingdom. This would pose a considerable risk to the many companies that rely on the free movement and exchange of these data. The privacy shield is becoming increasingly important for the European economy in the face of the global digital transformation and is also important for successful cross-border digitalisation. Should the ECJ on Thursday, by way of exception, not follow the Advocate General’s assessment and declare the Commission’s decision on standard contractual clauses or even the Privacy Shield invalid, the consequences would be fatal: numerous transatlantic transfers of personal data would become inadmissible overnight. There are really no equivalent alternatives for data traffic at present. The digital economy is absolutely dependent on reliable and sustainable regulations by politicians, and companies need this legal certainty.”
