The decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to invalidate Safe Harbor i.e. the facilitated unhampered data transfer between the EU and the U.S. will create massive problems for thousands of companies that now have to rely on alternative data-transfer mechanisms until a new deal is reached.
The EU Commission has stepped up talks with the U.S. Government to ensure the standards laid out by the CJEU are met and in record time – the EU Commission aims to have the new framework agreed by the end of January 2016 to prevent a possible fragmentation of EU policy on data-transfer.
With several considerations that need to be taken into account and varied interest, finding a solution that would satisfy all within such a short period of time would be difficult. Recently, the European Parliament has voiced its dissatisfaction with the EU Commission’s plan, arguing that a new “Safer Harbor” agreement would require more substantial changes.