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Disclosure of Information: EU Countries

Question for Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

UIN HL14069, tabled on 26 February 2019

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to negotiate a post-Brexit data sharing agreement with the EU; and when they anticipate that such a deal will be signed.

Answered on

11 March 2019

Our White Paper of July 2018 set out our EU Exit objectives relating to data protection, including our intention to seek Adequacy Decisions for the GDPR and Law Enforcement Directive and agreement on regulatory cooperation. The UK and the EU agree that the continued free flow of personal data is an important underpinning feature of our future relationship for both economic and security purposes. As set out in the Political Declaration, the EU will begin its assessment of the UK as soon as possible after the United Kingdom's withdrawal, endeavouring to adopt Adequacy Decisions by the end of December 2020. It also confirmed the objective of agreement on appropriate regulatory cooperation. The UK is ready to begin those adequacy assessments now. In the same time frame, the UK will take steps to ensure the flow of personal data to the EU.

In a No Deal scenario, we will continue to make the case to the European Commission to start the adequacy assessments as soon as possible to provide the earliest possible reassurance that data flows can continue.