The European Commission had originally insisted the deal would be done by June, but that was to reckon without stern criticism from national data protection authorities in the Article 29 Working Party, the European Data Protection Supervisor, and MEPs in the European Parliament. Far from hailing Privacy Shield as a great improvement on Safe Harbour, as some more naive Commission staff had hoped, they bemoaned the lack of concrete improvement and demanded clarification on multiple points. But the real battle takes place in the Article 31 group. Following their latest meeting, the IAPP has learned that the Article 31 group is getting increasingly frustrated at not having the updated text. Most insiders predict that the newly-negotiated text will soon be presented in order to get it delivered before August. Without their say-so, the whole deal can be thrown out.
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