Fresh EU-US talks planned on data rules

Date: 02/09/1999

By Peter Chapman

TRANSATLANTIC talks aimed at ending the simmering dispute over tough new EU rules which could result in data exports to the US being banned will resume later this month.

The move follows the embarrassing revelation that nine of the Union's 15 member states have failed to implement the EU's data protection directive since it entered into force last October.

The legislation gives consumers the right to check how data about them is being used and, in some circumstances, have it erased from databases. They can, for example, stop data being used for marketing purposes or prevent sensitive information on subjects such as sexual orientation or political beliefs from being circulated. It also allows governments to ban data exports to third countries where protection is deemed 'inadequate'.

The Commission has now warned France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Germany, the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Spain and Austria that they risk legal proceedings if they fail to notify it of plans to implement the directive by next month. Officials say the UK and Denmark have only partially implemented the legislation, and the remainder are "still in the process" of updating their domestic rules.

Critics claim this delay has contributed to a lack of urgency in the talks aimed at averting a trade war with the US, which has weaker data protection rules.

However, sources say that efforts to break the deadlock are continuing, with US commerce department officials due to meet the Commission's top single market official John Mogg again later this month.

Washington has won the Commission's support for a 'safe harbour' scheme which would allow certain industries to be exempted from data bans if they adhered to strict usage controls. But an expected deal failed to materialise earlier this year as the US could not guarantee the effectiveness of such schemes.