Page contentsPage contents The European Commission has the power to determine, on the basis of article 45 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 whether a country outside the EU offers an adequate level of data protection.The adoption of an adequacy decision involves:a proposal from the European Commission;an opinion of the European Data Protection Board;an approval from representatives of EU countries;the adoption of the decision by the European Commission.At any time, the European Parliament and the Council may request the European Commission to maintain, amend or withdraw the adequacy decision on the grounds that its act exceeds the implementing powers provided for in the regulation.The effect of such a decision is that personal data can flow from the EU (and Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland) to that third country without any further safeguard being necessary. In others words, transfers to the country in question will be assimilated to intra-EU transmissions of data.The European Commission has so far recognised Andorra, Argentina, Canada (commercial organisations), Faroe Islands, Guernsey, Israel, Isle of Man, Japan, Jersey, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Switzerland , the United Kingdom under the GDPR and the LED, the United States (commercial organisations participating in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework) and Uruguay as providing adequate protection.With the exception of the United Kingdom, these adequacy decisions do not cover data exchanges in the law enforcement sector which are governed by the Law Enforcement Directive (Article 36 of Directive (EU) 2016/680).The Commission is required to periodically review the adequacy decisions adopted under the GDPR and its predecessor, Directive 95/46/EC, and to report its findings to the European Parliament and the Council. In line with this obligation, the Commission published its Report on the first periodic review of the adequacy decision for Japan on 4 April 2023. On 15 January 2024 the Commission published its Report on the first review of the functioning of the eleven adequacy decisions adopted pursuant to Directive 95/46/EC. On 9 October 2024, the Commission published its Report on the first review of the functioning of the adequacy decision on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. High-level meeting on International Data Flows On 4 March 2024, the Commission hosted the first ever high-level meeting on safe data flows, gathering responsible Ministers and heads of the data protection authorities of 15 countries and territories for which the EU has adopted an adequacy decision as well as the Chair of the European Data Protection Board. Participants discussed ways to leverage this network of like-minded partners to maximise the benefits of safe and free data flows and explored avenues for closer cooperation on enforcement of data protection rules. Adequacy decisions latest 21 June 2024Joint press statement for the meeting between Vice President Vera Jourová of the European Commission (responsible for Values and Transparency) and Chairperson Shizuo FujiDraft joint press statement for the meeting between Vice President Vera Jourová of the European Commission (responsible for Values and Transparency) and Chairperson Shizuo Fujiwara of the Personal Information Protection Commission of Japan 4 March 2024Commission to host first international high-level meeting on safe data flowsToday, Commissioner Reynders will chair the first ever high-level meeting on safe data flows. He will be joined by Vice-President Jourová and the Chair of the European Data Protection Board (EDPB). 15 January 2024Commission finds that EU personal data flows can continue with 11 third countries and territories.Today, the European Commission successfully concluded its review of 11 existing adequacy decisions. These decisions had been adopted under the EU data protection legislation that preceded the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 11 April 2023Joint Press Statement by Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice, and Ko Haksoo, Chair of the Republic of Korea's Personal Information Protection CommissionRead the full Joint Press Statement. See all Documents 9 OCTOBER 2024Report on the first periodic review of the functioning of the adequacy decision on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework 15 JANUARY 2024Report on the first review of the functioning of the adequacy decisions adopted pursuant to Article 25(6) of Directive 95/46/EC 15 JANUARY 2024Commission Staff Working Document - Country reports on the functioning of the adequacy decisions adopted under Directive 95/46/EC 10 JULY 2023Adequacy decision for the EU-US Data Privacy Framework 4 APRIL 2023Report on the first periodic review of the adequacy decision for Japan 4 APRIL 2023Commission Staff Working Document - Report on the first periodic review of the adequacy decision for Japan 17 DECEMBER 2021Decision on the adequate protection of personal data by the Republic of Korea with annexes 28 JUNE 2021Decision on the adequate protection of personal data by the United Kingdom - General Data Protection Regulation 28 JUNE 2021Decision on the adequate protection of personal data by the United Kingdom: Law Enforcement Directive 14 JANUARY 2019EU Japan Adequacy Decision - Factsheet Related linksData protection: European Commission launches process on personal data flows to UKPress release - 19 February 2021International data flows: Commission launches the adoption of its adequacy decision on JapanPress release - 5 September 2018Press statement by Commissioner Věra Jourová, Mr. Lee Hyo-seong, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission and Mr. Jeong Hyun-cheol, Vice President of the Korea Internet & Security AgencyPress Statement - 20 November 2017Joint Declaration by Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, and Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European CommissionJoint Declaration - 6 July 2017Joint statement by Commissioner Věra Jourová and Haruhi Kumazawa, Commissioner of the Personal Information Protection Commission of Japan on the state of play of the dialogue on data protectionJoint Statement - 4 July 2017
21 June 2024Joint press statement for the meeting between Vice President Vera Jourová of the European Commission (responsible for Values and Transparency) and Chairperson Shizuo FujiDraft joint press statement for the meeting between Vice President Vera Jourová of the European Commission (responsible for Values and Transparency) and Chairperson Shizuo Fujiwara of the Personal Information Protection Commission of Japan
4 March 2024Commission to host first international high-level meeting on safe data flowsToday, Commissioner Reynders will chair the first ever high-level meeting on safe data flows. He will be joined by Vice-President Jourová and the Chair of the European Data Protection Board (EDPB).
15 January 2024Commission finds that EU personal data flows can continue with 11 third countries and territories.Today, the European Commission successfully concluded its review of 11 existing adequacy decisions. These decisions had been adopted under the EU data protection legislation that preceded the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
11 April 2023Joint Press Statement by Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice, and Ko Haksoo, Chair of the Republic of Korea's Personal Information Protection CommissionRead the full Joint Press Statement.
Data protection: European Commission launches process on personal data flows to UKPress release - 19 February 2021
International data flows: Commission launches the adoption of its adequacy decision on JapanPress release - 5 September 2018
Press statement by Commissioner Věra Jourová, Mr. Lee Hyo-seong, Chairman of the Korea Communications Commission and Mr. Jeong Hyun-cheol, Vice President of the Korea Internet & Security AgencyPress Statement - 20 November 2017
Joint Declaration by Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan, and Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European CommissionJoint Declaration - 6 July 2017
Joint statement by Commissioner Věra Jourová and Haruhi Kumazawa, Commissioner of the Personal Information Protection Commission of Japan on the state of play of the dialogue on data protectionJoint Statement - 4 July 2017