ICO statement in response to the publication of a draft adequacy decision from the European Commission

The European Commission has today published its draft UK adequacy decisions. If adopted, these decisions will allow for continued free flow of personal data from the EU into the UK.

As well as its decision under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the EU also published another draft decision for personal data related to law enforcement.

The adequacy decisions are now with the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) who will deliver an opinion to the European Commission and representatives from the EU member states.

During this process, UK businesses and public authorities will continue to be able to receive data from the EU under the adequacy bridge agreed in the 2020 trade and cooperation agreement .

Information Commissioner, Elizabeth Denham said:

“The draft adequacy decisions are an important milestone in securing the continued frictionless data transfers from the EU to the UK.

“Today’s announcement gets us a step closer to having a clear picture for organisations processing personal data from the EU and I welcome the progress that has been made.”