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Biden’s good faith disclosure of data privacy to the EU has become the first step in the US and Europe to smooth it out.
Author: Kai Kang
[ 作为建制派代表，拜登与欧洲主要国家领导人相识甚久。这也使得欧盟方面相信，如果拜登当选美国总统，将使美欧之间的诸多谈判重启。 ]
According to US media estimates, the Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Biden won more than 270 electoral votes in the 2020 US presidential elections. Shortly after the news broke, the leaders of the EU institutions and the leaders of the major countries expressed the hope that after Biden took office as president of the United States, heAtlanticThe new phase of the relationship.
During Trump’s presidency of the United States, in the field of the digital economy, the United States and the European Union continued to dispute issues such as data privacy, taxes and antitrust. EU officials said that if Biden is elected president of the United States, the United States and Europe can make progress in the areas mentioned above, and the first is to establish a new data privacy transmission agreement.
Before the US presidential elections, Biden gave the EU goodwill on the above issues. Biden has said that relevant negotiations will resume. But he also said that on the issue of digital privacy, the standards set by the United States and Europe will not be exactly the same, and that the United States will take several years to legislate on digital privacy issues.
Lai Xueyi, an associate professor at the Center for European Studies at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, said in an interview with a China Business News reporter that after Biden is elected president of the United States, it will be easier to bring the United States over from back to the negotiating table. The Democratic Party and European values are similar, and it is easier for both parties to compromise. However, this does not mean that the United States and Europe will definitely agree on data privacy issues. The positions of the United States and Europe in the digital economy are essentially different. First, the United States places more emphasis on national security in digital privacy issues, while the European Union places more emphasis on the interests of consumers. Second, the digital tech giants are mostly American companies. The US government wants to protect the interests of American companies, while Europe wants to develop local technology companies.
Will Biden bring the United States back to the negotiating table?
In recent years, after a series of legal challenges against US intelligence programs, the relationship between the United States and Europe on data privacy has fallen to a freezing point.
The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in July that the transatlantic “European and American Privacy Shield” data-sharing agreement adopted in 2016 was invalid because the surveillance practices of the United States endanger the personal privacy of the Europeans.
Previously, under the agreement, the United States was defined as a country and region “basically equivalent to the European Union.” US companies can directly transfer personal data of EU citizens without special authorization.
As a representative of the establishment, Biden has known the leaders of major European countries for a long time. This also makes the EU believe that if Biden is elected president of the United States, many negotiations between the United States and Europe will restart. Currently, the European Commission and the US Department of Commerce are negotiating the possibility of replacing the new privacy shield agreement.
Some EU officials and privacy experts said that under Biden’s leadership, the negotiations will not only restart, but will also be easier.
Lai Xueyi explained to the CBN reporter that from an ideological point of view, Biden is consistent with the dominant European ideology. From a foreign policy perspective, Biden promotes internationalism and pays more attention to strengthening relationships with allies, allowing Europe and the United States to make progress on many shelved issues.
German Osram is a lighting equipment manufacturer and its chief data privacy officer, Barbara Schmitz, believes that the Biden management is more willing to reform US privacy regulations, making the transmission of data from US surveillance Be more transparent and better protected. Privacy of your customers’ data.
Peter Swire (Peter Swire), a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Law, served as an officer in charge of privacy legislation in the Clinton and Obama administrations. He said that the election of Biden as president can make Europeans more comfortable transmitting data to the United States, and that the United States can legislate on general privacy issues. However, he also said the United States cannot engage with the EU on key issues.
The United States and Europe offer three trading options
If the United States and Europe can return to the negotiating table, the European Union said it hopes that the United States and Europe will formulate a framework agreement on data privacy issues so that law enforcement agencies on both sides can share electronic evidence. Two years ago, the European Commission sought similar agreements from the United States when it enacted legislation on this issue. Last year, the United States and the United Kingdom signed a similar agreement.
From the US perspective, Swell said there are still other solutions between the US and Europe. If the US government accesses European consumer data, the US government provides appropriate corrective measures, such as submitting the data to the European Court of Justice. If risks still exist, EU regulators can order relevant companies to stop transferring data to countries outside of Europe.
Some Obama administration officials said the United States has a third way to satisfy the EU. Cam Kerry, Former General Counsel of the US Department of Commerce, Assisted in the “European and American Privacy Shield” data sharing agreement. He said that if the US government wants to access data transmitted from Europe, it mostly uses national security as a reason. This requires observing the orders of the president. If they are compiled into laws, the EU’s concerns will dissipate.
However, due to the consistency of the US government’s policy on this issue, this also makes the EU believe that even if the US and Europe return to the negotiating table, it will take time to seek a breakthrough. .
European Data Protection Officer Wojciech Wiewiórowski said: “In these discussions, I did not find any special difference between the Obama administration and the Trump administration’s approach to this issue.”
Caitlin Fennessy, Research Director for the Portsmouth International Privacy Association and Director of the Privacy Shield, served as the US person in charge of the “European and US Privacy Shield” negotiations at the US Department of Commerce. From 2018 to 2019. He said that US and European officials involved in the “European and American Privacy Shield” negotiations have been working in both governments for many years, and their political attitudes are ongoing. The Democratic and Republican parties have different foreign policy orientations, but they will maintain a certain degree of continuity on specific issues. Sex.
Lai Xueyi also believes that if the Democratic or Republican candidate is elected president of the United States, they will represent the interests of the United States when negotiating with the European Union. Today, the new corona pneumonia epidemic has dealt a severe blow to the United States and Europe, and it is difficult for the two sides to make concessions on specific economic interests.
Furthermore, Lai Xueyi also said that Brexit has also created obstacles to solving the problem in the future. The UK is a member of the “Five Eyes Alliance” of the United States. Until the end of the Brexit transition period in late December this year, US tech companies can transmit consumer data from the EU to the UK and then to the US If there is no agreement between the US and Europe in the future, American tech companies can still transmit data through the UK.
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