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Read Head of Policy for Brexit, International and Economics Giles Derrington's statement on the newly released Government report on UK-EU data flows post-Brexit.

The Exiting the European Union Select Committee yesterday published an extensive report on the importance of maintaining UK-EU data flows post-Brexit. The report demonstrates that data flows are part of daily life and there must be a solution in place from the moment the UK leaves the EU on 29 March 2019.

As the report outlines, the EU’s data protection framework requires third countries, as the UK will be post-Brexit, to apply and be assessed for an adequacy agreement to allow data to flow freely between the EU and that third country. There are alternative mechanisms available to conduct data transfers however as the Committee’s report concludes these are not suitable alternatives to an adequacy agreement.

The Committee’s report quotes heavily from techUK and UK Finance’s report ‘No Interruptions: options for the future UK EU data sharing relationship’, as well as oral evidence given to the Committee by techUK’s Giles Derrington.

The Select Committee’s report also assesses the UK Government’s recent proposals on data flows and compares them to the EU’s position. The UK has proposed a bespoke relationship on data protection, which would see continued regulatory cooperation, going beyond ‘normal’ adequacy’. The proposals would see the UK and EU agree an international treaty which would include the free flow of data, an ongoing role for the UK Information Commissioner’s Office on the European Data Protection Board and UK participation in the one-stop-shop mechanism. In carrying out its assessment the Committee’s report recognises that in order to improve the changes of successful negotiation based on the UK’s proposals, the UK will have to accept the jurisdiction of the ECJ in some situations.

The report did not receive the unanimous backing of the DExEU Select Committee, with two members, Craig Mackinlay MP and Jacob Rees-Mogg MP, voting against the report’s conclusions.

Commenting on the publication of the report Giles Derrington, Head of Policy for Brexit, International and Economics, techUK said:

“techUK welcomes this report as a comprehensive, detailed and is a useful contribution to ongoing discussions about data flows. Securing the free flow of data post Brexit is increasingly being recognised as a priority issue for all UK businesses and it is significant that the Committee has chosen to publish a standalone report on the issue.  They are right to make clear that an adequacy agreement is the best existing way to ensure data can continue to flow post-Brexit. The report also rightly recognises the benefits of the UK government’s proposals while offering an honest critique and assessment about what the UK government must do to succeed in those negotiations. techUK remains of the view that a continued close relationship on data protection is in the mutual interest of UK and EU governments, businesses and citizens, but this will likely mean compromise on both sides of the negotiations.”