Not Granting GDPR Adequacy to the UK Would Be a Mistake

As part of the two-year review of the EU General Data Protection Regulation, the European Commission said it “cannot predict” whether the U.K., now an ex-EU member, will be fit for a data transfer adequacy agreement with the EU on the grounds that the U.K. might adjust its national legislation to deviate from the GDPR. Threatening to make it harder for the U.K. to engage in digital trade with the EU is a misguided move.

Writing in IAPP, Daniel Castro and Eline Chivot say that if the EU fails to foster digital trade with the U.K., the EU will only fall further behind in the digital economy. To stay competitive post-Brexit and in the digital economy, the EU should ensure its data protection framework facilitates rather than obstructs data transfers with the U.K. and allow easier international transfers with more countries.