02 Jul 2003, 12:00 am
Similar decisions have already been adopted concerning the data protection regimes in Switzerland and Hungary, the "safe harbor" arrangement in the United States and the Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.
In fact, the Commission's decision was informally made several months ago, but the formal announcement was only made yesterday.
The Commission's decision has been taken in line with the Data Protection Directive which provides that the transfer of personal data from Member States to non-Member States may in principle take place if the non-EU country in question ensures an adequate level of protection.
The Commission may adopt decisions determining that such adequate protection is provided by a given country. This increases legal certainty for companies in the European Union and makes the export of personal data to the country concerned easier, thus contributing to the free flow of information, which is one of the objectives of the Directive.