Doslovno u zadnji čas prije isteka prijelaznog razdoblja, 24.12.2020. između Europske unije i Ujedinjenog Kraljevstva postignut je trgovinski sporazum, temeljem kojega UK zadržava pristup jedinstvenom tržištu EU-a s 450 milijuna potrošača bez carina i kvota. Osim trgovinskih pitanja, sporazum je uredio i privremeni status UK u odnosu na zaštitu i prijenose osobnih podataka.
U „novom“ prijelaznom razdoblju UK se neće smatrati trećom zemljom, a svi prijenosi podataka mogu se obavljati nesmetano, kao i do sada. Međutim, ovaj status UK će zadržati sve dok Europska komisija ne donese odluku o adekvatnosti ili do maksimalno 6 mjeseci od stupanja sporazuma na snagu.
Ostaje nam vidjeti kako će (i hoće li) UK unatoč prilično invazivnim nacionalnim zakonima koji uređuju obavještajni nadzor, ali i Schrems II presudi koja se neizravno odnosi na UK, postati adekvatna zemlja za prijenos osobnih podataka.
Izdvajamo najvažnije dijelove sporazuma:
Article FINPROV 10.A Interim provision for transmission of personal data to the United Kingdom
For the duration of the specified period, transmission of personal data from the Union to the United Kingdom shall not be considered as transfer to a third country under Union law, provided that the data protection legislation of the United Kingdom on 31 December 2020, as it is saved and incorporated into United Kingdom law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and as modified by the Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 201987(“the applicable data protection regime”), applies and provided that the United Kingdom does not exercise the designated powers without the agreement of the Union within the Partnership Council.
The “specified period” begins on the date of entry into force of this Agreement and, subject to paragraph 5, ends:
(a) on the date on which adequacy decisions in relation to the UK are adopted by the European Commission under Article 36(3) of Directive (EU) 2016/680 and under Article 45(3) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, or
(b) on the date four months after the specified period begins, which period shall be extended by two further months unless one of the Parties objects;whichever is earlier.
