At the EDPB’s 42^nd plenary session on 19 November 2020, the European Commission presented the two new sets of draft Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) it published on 12 November 2020.

As we reported last week, the first set of SCCs is for contracts between controllers and processors and has been developed in accordance with Article 28(7) of the GDPR. These SCCs will have an EU-wide effect and aim to ensure full harmonisation and legal certainty across the EU when it comes to contracts between controllers and their processors.

The second set of SCCs concerns personal data transfers outside the EU pursuant to Article 46(2)(c) of the GDPR. These SCCs will replace the existing SCCs for international transfers that were adopted on the basis of the Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC) and needed to be updated to bring them in line with GDPR requirements, as well as with the CJEU’s ruling in the “Schrems II” case, and to better reflect the widespread use of new and more complex processing operations often involving multiple data importers and exporters. The Commission has requested a joint opinion from the EDPB and the EDPS on the implementing acts on both sets of SCCs.

The EDPB Chair, Andrea Jelinek, said: “The new SCCs for the transfer of personal data to third countries have been highly anticipated, and it is important to point out that they are not a catch-all solution for data transfers post-Schrems II. While the updated SCCs are an important piece of the puzzle and a very important development, data exporters should still make the puzzle complete. The step-by-step approach of the EDPB recommendations on supplementary measures is necessary to bring the level of protection of the data transferred up to the EU standard of essential equivalence. Together with the EDPS, the Board will now thoroughly draft a joint opinion on the two sets of draft SCCs as invited by the European Commission”. To read the EDPB’s press release in full, click here. To access the draft SCCs, both of which are open for consultation until 10 December 2020, click here and here.