EU data protection in transatlantic cooperation in criminal matters Will the EU be serving its citizens an American meal?

Abstract

The still to be adopted Stockholm Programme, setting out the policy for justice and home affairs for the next five years, includes a chapter on data protection that calls for a comprehensive legal framework on data protection covering all areas of EU competence. With Directive 95/46 and a newly enacted Framework Decision on data protection in criminal matters there is still a need for such a comprehensive EU protection scheme. Both existing instruments are not consistent with each other and cannot thus form a comprehensive framework of data protection. The inconsistencies have equally penetrated the transatlantic cooperation in criminal matters. When assessing the agreements concluded between Europol, Eurojust and the EU, on the one hand, and the US, on the other (including the PNR Agreements), the same issues can be detected. Still, the communication on the Stockholm Programme refers to the data protection provisions in these agreements as an example for future bilateral and multilateral agreements.