Digital industry representatives from 9 countries from Central and Eastern Europe, associated in the CEE Digital Coalition, jointly appealed to the European Union institutions to take tangible action on the so-called Data Privacy Framework, a US-European agreement regulating data transfers. They believe that the dragging out of the administrative process is harming the development of the European digital market, especially cloud services within the Community.

An open letter on the issue was signed by 12 organisations in total. The signatories represent industry associations from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. It was addressed to the European Commission, the European Data Protection Board, and individual EU Member States.

The Data Privacy Framework is a proposal’s draft that is meant to settle the issues relating data-transfer to the US. A noticeable legislative vacuum creates a barrier to development of digital companies. - We have no doubt that the introduction of the Data Privacy Framework is necessary, said Michał Kanownik, President of Digital Poland Association who signed the open letter. - However, it should be done much faster, because each month of delay has a negative impact on the development of digital companies, their innovativeness and implementation of modern cloud solutions. To put it plainly, we are falling behind players from other parts of the world - Michal Kanownik noted.

The CEE Digital Coalition recalls that it has been more than two years since the previous piece of legislation regulating data transfers was cancelled. Since then, digital industry has faced a growing number of legal issues that have largely limited their growth. "Data transfers are the cornerstone of the global economy," - argue the experts of the CEE Digital Coalition. They urge to use the already existing tools in the transatlantic dialogue. The alliance points to the Trade and Technology Council, a diplomatic forum for coordinating technology and trade policies between the United States and the European Union. "This is a platform which can help resolve emerging issues in the regulation of data transfers," the - wrote the signatories of the open letter.

The signatories of the letter emphasised that speeding up the administrative process on the Data Privacy Framework is particularly important for the economies of the CEE region- over the past five years, the digital industries of these countries grew by as much as 51 per cent. The signatories believe that the development of cloud technologies, especially of the cloud solution, can be a further boost to the dynamic growth of this key sector.

Read the statement of CEE Digital Coalition here.