Data adequacy grant to India non-negotiable, says EU envoy

Even as India is pushing hard to obtain the coveted Data Adequacy status from the European Union under the ongoing talks for a bilateral trade deal, the 27-nation bloc has clearly stated it will not in any way negotiate the issue.

The Indian government considers it crucial that India gets this status, similar to the Safe Harbour agreement it has with the US, 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 (information technology) professionals. This also increases the cost for us but this cannot be done under the trade talks," EU ambassador to India João Cravinho told Business Standard, on the sidelines of a meeting here today.

The 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 the EU Data Protection Regulations, 2012. These say transfer of data outside the European Economic Area (EEA) can take place to only those countries ensuring an adequate level of protection. This is what makes the status so sought.

According to Nasscom, the apex body of India's IT sector, getting India declared as a data-secured country will increase revenues from the EU to the extent of $7 billion (Rs 38,350 crore) annually by way of increased offshoring and cost savings to companies leveraging India in their business model.

The EU ambassador also said that granting the status to any country outside the bloc required a long-drawn process, as each of the states' protection commissioners needed 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 the former chief justice of the high court of Delhi, Ajit Shah.

Presently, chief trade negotiators from both sides are meeting here to prepare the grounds for a possible formal conclusion of the talks between commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma and EU trade commissioner Karel de Gucht. The Indian side is led by Rajeev Kher from the ministry of commerce and industry.

The ambassador said the EU had not got anything significant from India in terms of reduction of duties on automobiles and wines and spirits.

The Government of India had been claiming that in these two sectors, it had offered much more to the EU than to any other country with whom India has broad-based trade agreements, encompassing goods, services and investment. The EU also has huge interest in getting more access in India's insurance sector, something Germany is much interested in.

Minister Anand Sharma had recently told Business Standard he'd try to hammer out some consensus on the issue. With 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, the government might stall the talks if it failed to get the status from Europe.

The Data Security Council of India, along with Nasscom, is working with the department of commerce and the department of information technology & electronics on the issue of trans-border flow of data from the EU to India. In May 2010, the EU had commissioned a study to analyse the adequacy of protection of personal data provided in India.

It did not find the laws adequate here.