Speaking in the European Parliament tonight, Swedish MEP Malin Björk explained: “Although there are improvements and good things in this agreement, we are not satisfied. In our view, the agreement does not meet the requirements of the Charter of Fundamental Rights under EU law and fails to provide the required levels of protection.”

“The wording is not strong enough when it comes to purpose limitation and onward transfer, and not all individuals are afforded effective judicial redress; the agreement differentiates between EU citizens and non-citizens.

“Legal actors have criticised this agreement. It is an international agreement, which would mean that it would be very difficult – near impossible – to challenge its legality in court. It will, as such then, override the EU data protection legislation, endangering our hard-won and very good data protection rights.

“For all of these reasons, we think that this agreement must go to the European Court of Justice so we can receive clear legal guidance on the manner in which these international agreements in the field of law enforcement and data protection interlink – and whether they comply sufficiently with EU law. Otherwise, our group will have to vote against it,” concludes Björk.

 

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