EU-US umbrella agreement on law enforcement finalised

European Union negotiations with the US government for an international data protection framework agreement in the law enforcement area (so-called ‘Umbrella Agreement’) have been finalised. According to Reuters, the parties have reached agreement on transfers of personal data between the EU and the US for law enforcement purposes. The US will allow EU citizens the right to effective judicial redress. The latter aspect has also been one of the sticking points in the revision of the EU-US Safe Harbor scheme, which is said to be close to being agreed.

However, the European Commission has said that the agreement cannot be signed and formally concluded until the right to judicial redress for EU citizens is enshrined in US law. A Bill on Judicial Redress was introduced in the US Congress in March 2015.