EU Lawmakers Want More Talks To Strengthen Proposed US Data Transfer Pact

EU lawmakers on Thursday urged the European Commission to continue talks to reinforce a proposed data transfer pact with the United States, saying there were still shortcomings in the agreement.

The move could further delay an accord which is critical for thousands of companies.

The EU executive in a draft decision in December said that U.S. safeguards against American intelligence activities were strong enough to address EU data privacy concerns.

Such worries had prompted Europe's top court to strike down two previous data transfer pacts, affecting thousands of companies that move Europeans' personal data across the Atlantic for commercial use such as financial services, human resources and e-commerce.

"This new proposal contains significant improvements, but unfortunately, we are not there yet," lawmaker Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar said after the assembly voted in a non-binding resolution against the proposed pact.

He said there were still missing elements on judicial independence, transparency, access to justice, and remedies.

"So, we call on the Commission to continue negotiations and properly address these concerns. The mechanism must genuinely protect the data of EU citizens and businesses," he said.

EU countries have yet to adopt a non-binding opinion after which the executive will make its final decision on the pact.