A deal on cross-border data flows between the EU and Japan was reached on Saturday, according to the EU. This agreement will let firms trade online and send a strong message against “digital protectionism”.
The deal, which was signed off-site during the ongoing G7 trade ministers’ conference in Osaka, is intended to make conducting business online “easier, less costly, and more efficient,” according to a statement from the European Commission.
Specifically, it will release businesses of “cumbersome” and “costly” administrative or data localisation requirements that have been a hindrance to companies both in Japan and Europe, the statement said.
The pact signifies “a milestone in our joint efforts to advance the digitalisation of our societies and economies”, it added.
As part of their Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), a 2019 trade agreement, Japan and the EU negotiated data governance for a full year before reaching this agreement.
According to the European Commission, EU companies export goods worth over 58 billion euros ($61.4 billion) and services worth 28 billion euros to Japan each year.
Similar data regulations have previously been incorporated by the EU into trade agreements with the UK and New Zealand.
EU trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said the deal with Japan sends a strong signal against “digital protectionism and unjustified measures restricting cross-border data flows”.
But at the same time, it will ensure “the highest protection of the data of our citizens”, he said, in an apparent nod to the EU’s emphasis on personal privacy.
