BRUSSELS – December 10, 2020 – In comments submitted today to the European Commission, BSA | The Software Alliance welcomed new draft Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), aimed at updating existing SCCs in light of the GDPR and addressing the outcome of the CJEU’s July 16 Schrems II decision.

“Cross-border data transfers are an essential part of modern-day commerce. They underpin a wide range of everyday business activities across every sector of the economy and are estimated to contribute $2.8 trillion to global GDP,” said Thomas Boué, Director General – Policy, EMEA at BSA. “Maintaining stable and secure mechanisms for data transfers is essential to the success of Europe’s digital transformation, economic growth, and to the global economy more broadly.”

“In BSA’s view, personal data should only be transferred or used in any way with real, effective privacy protections,” Boué added. “While the draft SCCs may be clarified to further strengthen their application and use, we welcome the Commission’s efforts to provide additional safeguards – on a case-by-case basis and in light of all the circumstances of the transfer – and certainty to the thousands of companies and organizations in Europe and worldwide that rely on SCCs.”

BSA recently published a set of principles to guide companies in developing additional safeguards for EU data transfers. Learn more here.

Read BSA’s full submission to the European Commission here.