Union governments have endorsed an agreement to end a data protection trade dispute with the US

Date: 08/06/2000

The move coincided with the start of last week's EU-US summit. Under the terms of the Union's data protection legislation, EU member states can block trade in data with third countries which failed to guarantee 'adequate protection' for consumers. The two sides agreed a 'safe harbour' scheme which will protect US firms which comply with the Union's rules from any embargo.