UK-EU data flows ‘must continue after Brexit’, says House of Lords

‘Maintaining unhindered and uninterrupted data flows between the UK and EU after Brexit’ will be important, as any arrangement creating greater friction could disadvantage the UK competitively and in security matters. So says a report by a House of Lords Select Committee on the EU Data Protection Package, which was debated on 10 October.

Key findings of the report are that:

• The most effective way to achieve unhindered flows of data would be to secure adequacy decisions from the European Commission under Article 45 of the General Data Protection Regulation and article 36 of the Police and Criminal Justice Directive. This would confirm ‘that the UK’s data protection rules would offer an equivalent standard of protection to that available within the EU.’
• Without a transitional arrangement, the lack of tried and tested fall-back options for data-sharing in the area of law enforcement would raise concerns about the UK’s ability to maintain deep police and security cooperation with the EU and its Member States in the immediate aftermath of Brexit.
• Even if the UK’s data protection rules were aligned with the EU regime to the maximum extent possible at the point of Brexit, there remains the prospect that over time, the EU would amend or update its rules. Maintaining unhindered data flows with the EU post-Brexit could therefore require the UK to continue to align domestic data protection rules with EU rules that it no longer participates in setting.

The report, and website of the House of Lords Select Committee, is at:

https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/lords-select/eu-home-affairs-subcommittee/news-parliament-2017/data-protection-report-debate/