Today, the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) joined other groups in commending progress on U.S. – EU Safe Harbor negotiations.

After EU Commissioner for Justice, Vera  Jourová addressed the European Parliament with an update on these negotiations, SIIA Senior Vice President for Public Policy, Mark MacCarthy said the following in a statement:

“We commend negotiators with the European Union and with the U.S. Department of Commerce for today’s progress. International economic and legal challenges such as this are never easily resolved, but Commissioner Jourová’s announcement shows that both sides are committed to an agreement. We support them in their continued work and remain confident that a new Safe Harbor framework will be achieved.”

As SIIA has both European and American companies as members, this issue is of great importance to us.  Cross-border data flows allow for greater innovation and economic progress that technology enables.  However, these benefits are at risk without a robust Safe Harbor framework that establishes clear legal protections and certainty regarding digital trade.

SIIA will continue to work with negotiators to ensure that an agreement may be reached soon.  The full text of SIIA’s statement can be found here.

Diane Pinto is the Public Policy Coordinator at SIIA. Follow the Policy team on Twitter @SIIAPolicy.