BRUSSELS – June 28, 2021 – BSA | The Software Alliance welcomes today’s final approval of the European Commission’s decision on the adequate protection of personal data by the United Kingdom, offering the following statement.

“Adequacy frameworks remain a pivotal personal data transfer mechanism for thousands of businesses and organizations operating in Europe,” said Thomas Boué, Director-General, Policy – EMEA, at BSA. “Today’s adequacy decision, combined with the cross-border data transfer provisions of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, solidifies both the necessary privacy protections to personal data transfers from the EU to the UK and the conditions for a strong, continued economic partnership.”

“The UK and the EU are two of the world’s most innovative economies and each other’s most integrated trading partners,” Boué added. “There is increasing momentum for like-minded democratic allies, with a shared respect for transparent and accountable digital governance, to work toward a global consensus on data flows. Today’s development is a significant step toward that goal, and should allow both London and Brussels to pursue their own policy objectives while ensuring the interoperability of their cross-border data flows regimes."