The European Commission has issued its draft adequacy decision on a new framework that seeks to promote and ensure safe transfers of personal data from the European Union to U.S. companies.
The commission said Tuesday the draft decision on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework comes following the October release of an executive order to improve safeguards for U.S. signals intelligence activities, along with regulations adopted by the U.S. attorney general.
The draft decision has been handed over to the European Data Protection Board for its opinion. The European Parliament and EU member states will have the opportunity to scrutinize and approve the draft before the commission can issue a final adequacy decision.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the draft decision marks a key step in addressing the EU court of justice’s ruling in the Schrems II case in 2020.
“Under the Framework, the United States has implemented strengthened safeguards for signals intelligence activities, developed a new redress mechanism, and updated privacy principles for U.S. organizations,” she noted.
“We are confident that these measures will restore stability to the data flows that thousands of U.S. and EU firms depend on – the lifeblood of the $7.1 trillion transatlantic economy,” Raimondo added.