Considerations on COM(2022)336 - Authorisation of the opening of negotiations for the inclusion of provisions on cross-border data flows in the Agreement with Japan for an Economic Partnership

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dossier COM(2022)336 - Authorisation of the opening of negotiations for the inclusion of provisions on cross-border data flows in the Agreement ...
document COM(2022)336 EN
date July 12, 2022
 
(1) Article 8.81 of the Agreement between the European Union and Japan for an Economic Partnership (the Agreement) instructs the Parties to reassess the need for the inclusion of provisions on the free flow of data into the Agreement.

(2) The Joint Committee established by Article 22.1 of the Agreement, in its meeting of 25 March, examined whether the economic partnership between the European Union and Japan would benefit from the inclusion of provisions on cross-border data flows in the Agreement. Building on that examination, the representatives of the European Union and Japan, at the 28th EU-Japan summit, committed to consider the launch of the negotiations needed for such inclusion.

(3) The European Union and Japan have a deep and dynamic economic relationship and, through their mutual adequacy arrangement, have created the world's largest area of safe transfers of personal data. Japan is the closest strategic partner of the European Union in the Indo-Pacific region and the European Union’s second-biggest trading partner in Asia.

(4) The European Union is engaged in negotiations on rules covering cross-border data flows in several bilateral negotiations with third countries, as well as in the context of the ongoing negotiations on electronic commerce within the WTO. Therefore, it is appropriate to authorise the Commission to open negotiations with a view to include the provisions on data flows into the Agreement, coherent with the horizontal provisions for cross-border data flows and personal data protection in trade negotiations 6 .