2000/518/EC: Commission Decision of 26 July 2000 pursuant to Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the adequate protection of personal data provided in Switzerland (notified under document number C(2000) 2304) (Text with EEA relevance.)

• CELEX: Directive 95/46/EC
• Articles: 6

Article 1

For the purposes of Article 25(2) of Directive 95/46/EC, for all the activities falling within the scope of that Directive, Switzerland is considered as providing an adequate level of protection for personal data transferred from the Community.

Article 2

This Decision concerns only the adequacy of protection provided in Switzerland with a view to meeting the requirements of Article 25(1) of Directive 95/46/EC and does not affect other conditions or restrictions implementing other provisions of that Directive that pertain to the processing of personal data within the Member States.

Article 3

1. Without prejudice to their powers to take action to ensure compliance with national provisions adopted pursuant to provisions other than Article 25 of Directive 95/46/EC, the competent authorities in Member States may exercise their existing powers to suspend data flows to a recipient in Switzerland in order to protect individuals with regard to the processing of their personal data in cases where:

(a) a competent Swiss authority has determined that the recipient is in breach of the applicable standards of protection; or

(b) there is a substantial likelihood that the standards of protection are being infringed; there are reasonable grounds for believing that the competent Swiss authority is not taking or will not take adequate and timely steps to settle the case at issue; the continuing transfer would create an imminent risk of grave harm to data subjects and the competent authorities in the Member State have made reasonable efforts in the circumstances to provide the party responsible for processing established in Switzerland with notice and an opportunity to respond.

The suspension shall cease as soon as the standards of protection are assured and the competent authority concerned in the Community is notified thereof.

2. Member States shall inform the Commission without delay when measures are adopted on the basis of paragraph 1.

3. The Member States and the Commission shall also inform each other of cases where the action of bodies responsible for ensuring compliance with the standards of protection in Switzerland fails to secure such compliance.

4. If the information collected under paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 provides evidence that any body responsible for ensuring compliance with the standards of protection in Switzerland is not effectively fulfilling its role, the Commission shall inform the competent Swiss authority and, if necessary, present draft measures in accordance with the procedure under Article 31 of Directive 95/46/EC with a view to repealing or suspending this Decision or limiting its scope.

Article 4

1. This Decision may be amended at any time in the light of experience with its functioning or of changes in Swiss legislation.

The Commission shall evaluate the functioning of this Decision on the basis of available information, three years after its notification to the Member States and report any pertinent findings to the Committee established under Article 31 of Directive 95/46/EC, including any evidence that could affect the finding in Article 1 of this Decision that protection in Switzerland is adequate within the meaning of Article 25 of Directive 95/46/EC and any evidence that this Decision is being implemented in a discriminatory way.

2. The Commission shall, if necessary, present draft measures in accordance with the procedure established by Article 31 of Directive 95/46/EC.

Article 5

Member States shall take all the measures necessary to comply with this Decision at the latest at the end of a period of 90 days from the date of its notification to the Member States.

Article 6

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 26 July 2000.

For the Commission

Frederik Bolkestein

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31.

(2) Opinion 12/98, adopted by the Working Party on 24.7.1998: "Transfers of personal data to third countries. Applying Articles 25 and 26 of the EU Data Protection Directive" (DG MARKT D/5025/98), available on Europa, the website hosted by the European Commission: http://europa. eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/media/dataprot/wpdocs/index.htm.

(3) Available on website: http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/EN/cadreintro.htm.

(4) Opinion 5/99 adopted by the Working Party on 7.6.1999 (DG MARKT 5054/99), available on the Europa website cited in footnote 2.