Race is on to clinch data privacy deal

Date: 17/02/2000

By Peter Chapman

THE European Commission and US officials will next week make a last-ditch attempt to clinch a deal on data protection rules before the end-of-March deadline which both sides have set for reaching an accord.

The Commission's top internal market official John Mogg and his US government counterpart David Aaron will search once again for a way to reconcile the two blocs' different approaches towards the issue.

Under the terms of the EU's personal data directive which entered into force in October 1998, member states can block exports of data to countries such as the US which do not provide similar levels of protection for consumers.

But Mogg and Aaron have been locked in talks for more than a year to try to reach a compromise under which the EU would recognise a US private-sector 'safe harbour' scheme. Under this scheme, US firms which promised to meet certain safeguards would be deemed to fulfil the terms of the Union directive and would be allowed to import data such as information about European consumers.

But Aaron has so far failed to convince EU data protection experts that the US authorities' checks on the scheme would be adequate to ensure personal information was not misused.

The talks planned for next Tuesday (22 February) will be Aaron's last before he leaves the US commerce department to resume his legal career. "The fact they promised to reach an agreement by the end of March means that they will have to make some progress at this meeting," said one Commission source.

The next day the European Parliament will quiz Bolkestein and Mogg in a special hearing on data protection issues, which will also discuss the poor implementation of the 1998 directive by some EU member states and the use of data by law enforcement agencies such as Europol.

The European Commission and US officials are to make a last-ditch attempt to clinch a deal on data protection rules before the end-of-March deadline which both sides have set to reaching an accord.