On December 13, 2022, the European Commission published its draft adequacy decision recognizing the essential equivalence of US data protection standards, laying the foundations for finalization of the European Union (EU)-US Data Privacy Framework and unhampered crossborder data flows between the European Union and the United States.

By way of background, on January 16, 2020, the European Union's highest court, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), rendered its decision in the Schrems II case (Case C- 311/18), declaring that the EU-US Privacy Shield is invalid because it does not provide an adequate level of protection for the transfer of personal data from the European Union to the United States. The CJEU did, however, uphold the validity of standard contractual clauses (SCCs) with certain caveats. In response to this decision, former US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said that the US Department of Commerce was “disappointed” and had been corresponding with the European Commission and European Data Protection Board on this matter. Subsequently, the White House issued an executive order committing to balance US foreign intelligence agencies’ access to personal data against the privacy of EU citizens.

On January 17, 2023, the European Data Protection Board reported that it would use its next plenary meeting to discuss the proposed EU-US Data Privacy Framework. This is an important next step in cementing the proposed EU-US Data Privacy Framework and maintaining the $7.1 trillion transatlantic economic relationship.