The review covers all aspects of the functioning of the adequacy decisions adopted by the EU and Japan, from their application to broader legal developments in the area of data protection and government access to data. It offers also an opportunity to share information and experience on issues of common interest.

The meeting was opened by Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice and Shuhei Ohshima, PPC Commissioner. They both stressed the shared commitment of the EU and Japan to high privacy standards as an essential element of a human-centric approach to the opportunities and challenges of our digital age.

Didier Reynders said: “Two years ago, the EU and Japan created the world’s largest area of safe data flows. This is probably the best example of how two like-minded partners can work together to protect privacy and facilitate data transfers, to the benefit of their citizens and businesses alike. Since then, convergence between our respective data protection systems has further increased. This review, by ensuring that our adequacy decisions work as intended, offers a unique opportunity to further strengthen our strategic partnership in this area both bilaterally and in multilateral fora.” 

Shuhei Ohshima said: “We underline with the EU our joint commitment to high standards of protection for personal data, based on the already high degree of convergence between our systems. We also stress the importance of our continued cooperation on promoting ‘Data Free Flow with Trust’ globally. The joint review meeting has confirmed the closeness of our respective data protection systems and I am confident that, based on the positive exchanges, we can successfully complete the remaining steps of our procedures by the end of this year.”

Further to this meeting, the European Commission and PPC will publish separate reports on the functioning of their respective adequacy decisions. These reports will conclude the review process.