On 19 February 2021, the European Commission initiated the process for adopting two adequacy decisions for transfers of personal data to the UK, one under the GDPR and the other under the Law Enforcement Directive.
Following the assessment of the UK’s law and practice on personal data protection, including the rules on access to data by public authorities, the Commission concluded that the UK ensures an essentially equivalent level of protection to the one guaranteed under both the GDPR and the Law Enforcement Directive.
The EDPB must now provide its opinion on the findings, after which the Commission will request approval from Member States’ representatives in the comitology procedure before adopting the final adequacy decisions for the UK.
Until 30 June 2021, data flows between the EEA and the UK continue and remain safeguarded under the conditional interim regime that was agreed in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
The press release is available here.
