Last-gasp Safe Harbor “political deal” struck between Europe and US

An eleventh-hour data transfer "political agreement" has been reached between US and European Union officials, just as privacy watchdogs in the 28-member-state bloc were circling tech giants with the threat of enforcement action.

The European Commission's vice president Andrus Ansip—perhaps mindful of keeping national data regulators from the Article 29 Working Group at bay—said during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon that a framework agreement is now in place.

What that means in practice is that the Commission has negotiated some breathing space to strike a deal with the US.

A draft agreement will be drawn up in the next few weeks, said Brussels' justice commissioner, Věra Jourová. She added that only then will the "commitments" made on Tuesday be formalised into a new framework. Among those commitments were a number of assurances from the US, which were waved through by the EU's College of Commissioners. That followed months of talks after the 15-year-old Safe Harbour agreement between Europe and the US was deemed invalid in October last year.

"The US has clarified that they do not carry out indiscriminate mass surveillance of European citizens," Ansip said.

He added that the US had agreed to create the role of a special ombudsman, who would follow up on complaints from EU citizens only after their gripes have been referred by data-protection authorities in the member states.

Additionally, the EU will undergo an annual joint review with US regulator Federal Trade Commission, which would include discussions about national security exemptions.

Speaking in an interview with Ars earlier today, privacy campaigner Max Schrems said that he expected that if a new agreement were to be reached between the two sides, it is likely that the case would go back to the European Court of Justice. "If there is a new safe harbour that does not meet the test of the court, then it will fail again, and nobody wants that," he said.

Jourová, on the other hand, characterised the deal as a "major achievement" and said that the two sides had agreed to a "renewed and safe framework for transatlantic data flows."

The new name for that deal? Drumroll, please! The EU-US Privacy Shield. Yup.