The first concrete details of the agreement to allow private companies to transfer data between Europe and the US , signed at the start of February , were released on 29 February , and immediately came under criticism . By Cory Bennett and Katie Bo Williams - 02/29/16 07:50 PM EST This may rattle US companies , which have been in legal limbo since October 2015 when the European Court of Justice ( ECJ ) quashed the previous data - sharing agreement due to concerns that the agreement would fail to adequately protect Europeans ’ data . A $ 260bn digital services trade across the EU is at stake ; even if the agreement can be finalised it is still expected to come before the ECJ , at the time that US companies will have to wait for a final verdict .
The first concrete details of the agreement to allow private companies to transfer data between Europe and the US , signed at the start of February , were released on 29 February , and immediately came under criticism . This may rattle US companies , which have been in legal limbo since October 2015 when the European Court of Justice ( ECJ ) quashed the previous data - sharing agreement due to concerns that the agreement would fail to adequately protect Europeans ’ data . A $ 260bn digital services trade across the EU is at stake ; even if the agreement can be finalised it is still expected to come before the ECJ , at the time that US companies will have to wait for a final verdict .