It is extremely crucial that India gets this status, which is to some extent similar to the Safe Harbor agreement that it has with the US, in order to get more access to the EU market for India’s teeming professionals such as software engineers, nurses, doctors, lawyers, chefs and chartered accountants among others.
“Data protection is our fundamental right and rights are not negotiated … I understand it is important for India to get the status but then this is not the forum for that. I know how significant it is for India to get access to the European countries for its IT professionals. This increases the cost for us also but this cannot be done under the trade talks,” EU ambassador to India Joao Cravinho told Business Standard on the sidelines of a meeting here today.
More From This Section
EU’s Data Protection Directive, under Article 25, states the criteria for assessing adequacy of data protection in a third country. This directive is now expected to be replaced by EU Data Protection Regulations, 2012 (Regulations) which under the category of transborder data flow states that transfer of data outside the European Economic Area (EEA) can take place to only those countries that ensure adequate level of protection. This is what makes the status so sought-after.
According to Nasscom, getting India declared as a data-secured country will increase revenues from EU to the extent of $7 billion per annum by way of increased off - shoring and cost savings to companies leveraging India in their business model.
The ambassador also said that granting the status to any country outside EU requires a long-drawn process as each of the states’ protection commissioners need to approve the process. He highlighted the need for India to adhere to the recommendations made by the ‘Group of Experts on Privacy’ constituted by the Planning Commission under the chairmanship of former chief justice of High Court of Delhi Ajit Prakash Shah.
Presently, chief trade negotiators from both sides are meeting here from May 15 - May 17 to prepare the grounds for a possible formal conclusion of the talks between commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma and EU trade commissioners Karel de Gucht. While India is represented by Rajeev Kher from the ministry of commerce and industry, from EU side Ignacio Garcia Bercero is doing the negotiation .
The ambassador also said that EU has not anything significant from India in terms of reduction of duties on automobiles and wines and spirits, while India had been claiming that in these two sectors it has offered much more to EU than it has to any other country such Korea and Japan with whom India has broad-based trade agreements encompassing trade in goods, services and investment. EU also has huge interest in getting more access in India’s insurance sector, something that Germany is much interested in.
Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma had recently told Business Standard during an interview that he will try and hammer out some consensus on the issue. Considering the fact that India is facing crucial elections next year, India will not settle for anything less under this ambitious deal, the negotiations for which started in 2007. According to senior officials, India might resort to stalling the talks if it fails to get the status from Europe.
Data Security Council of India (DSCI), along with Nasscom, is working with the Department of Commerce (DoC) and Department of Information Technology & Electronics (DeitY) on the issue of trans - border flow of data from the European Union (EU) to India. In May 2010, the EU had commissioned a study to analyze the adequacy of protection of personal data provided in India. It did not find the laws adequate in India.