The EU Council website confirms that the EU-Canada trade agreement's (CETA) cross-border data flow commitments will be provisionally applied. In a letter to Dutch Parliament, Monday, Vrijschrift noted that CETA would undermine the protection of personal data. Vrijschrift also noted that the "commitments with respect to cross-border data flows would fall under provisional application of CETA. After ratification by the European Parliament, the Netherlands would face faits accomplis regarding data flows, a weak related safeguard, and the undermining of the protection of personal data."
The Council document shows that CETA's cross-border trade in services (articles 9.3 and 9.5), "which inevitably involves the processing and transferring of personal data in connection with the conduct of a service supplier's business", 1 will not be excluded from provisional application. The Netherlands and other member states would face the faits accomplis noted in the Vrijschrift letter. How to avoid this? Do not sign CETA.
Footnotes:
1 K. Irion, S. Yakovleva and M. Bartl, "Trade and Privacy: Complicated Bedfellows? How to achieve data protection-proof free trade agreements", independent study commissioned by BEUC et al., published 13 July 2016, Amsterdam, Institute for Information Law (IViR), page 1