MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The European Commission on Friday proposed signing the EU-US data protection Umbrella Agreement, bringing the sides closer to establishing a framework for cross-Atlantic data protection.
"Today, the European Commission proposes to the Council the signature and conclusion of the EU-US data protection Umbrella Agreement…The Council shall now adopt a decision authorising the signing of the Agreement. Once the agreement is signed, the decision concluding the Agreement will be adopted by the Council after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament," the Commission said in a press release.
The agreement was finalized by the European Commission and the United States in September, and is designed to ensure a high level of protection for the personal data used by EU and US law enforcement, including criminal records.
In February, US President Barack Obama signed the Judicial Redress Act, granting EU citizens the right to enforce data protection rights in US courts and paving the way to finalizing the Umbrella Agreement.
I propose today the signature of the EU-US data protection #UmbrellaAgreement
— Věra Jourová (@VeraJourova) 29 апреля 2016 г.
The European Union and the United States have been negotiating the Umbrella Agreement since March 2011.