Image: European Union
“We are not there yet” on privacy protections, says lead MEP Juan Fernando López Aguilar
The EU should not sign off its latest deal with the United States to ease the transfer of data between the two for activities including trade and research, the European Parliament has said.
In a resolution it adopted on 11 May, with 306 votes in favour, 27 against and 231 abstentions, the Parliament said that the agreement reached in 2022 between the European Commission and the US provides insufficient privacy for the bloc’s citizens.
It is the third such agreement attempted, after two prior deals were struck down by the EU’s top court, and has been designed to address problems with those deals around matters including potential surveillance of EU citizens by US authorities.
A spokesperson for the Commission previously told Research Professional News it would “work to address” some concerns about the deal that were raised by the bloc’s data regulator.
Insufficient protection
But MEPs said in their resolution that, although the deal was an improvement the previous two, its safeguards were still insufficient.
Parts of the deal they said remain problematic include who has the right to authorise bulk data collection and the ability of citizens to get redress for breaches of privacy.
The Parliament urged the Commission not to adopt the agreement and suggested it negotiate a new one that would be less “likely to be held up in court”.
Juan Fernando López Aguilar (pictured), the lead MEP on the file, said: “This new proposal contains significant improvements but, unfortunately, we are not there yet.”
No veto
However, the Parliament has no actual power over how the Commission can act on the issue, and the Commission has acted against Parliament wishes in the past.
López Aguilar told Research Professional News that the Parliament “has no veto powers” and that its resolution is not legally binding.
He added that the Commission “should take into account the Parliament’s position”, but noted that Parliament positions regarding the previous two deals “were disregarded” by the Commission even though the deals were later struck down by the EU’s top court.
“The ball is now in the Commission’s court and they have to decide how they are going to implement the Parliament’s recommendations, if at all,” he said. “It remains to be seen how they will proceed on this occasion.”