How to implement the new Standard Contractual Clauses?
10.10.2022
Authors:
Dr Bartosz Marcinkowski
Sylwia Kuca
Practice:
Specialisations:
By a decision dated June 4, 2021 the European Commission adopted new sets of Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs). As a result, by December 27, 2022, enterprises transferring data outside the European Economic Area grouping EU member states as well as Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein (EEA) are required to implement the new SCCs.
The main aim of introducing the new SCC is to ensure adequate safeguards for the transfer of personal data to the countries outside the EEA.
This translates into an obligation to make changes to the structure of contracts and their scope of application. In case of large enterprises, it means having to sign hundreds or even thousands of contracts that comply with the new standards.
Please note that failure to implement the new SCCs by the deadline may give rise to the following risks:
- Regulatory/legal risks – administrative financial penalties imposed by the supervisory authority;
- PR risk – reputational damage caused by a penalty or public information on inadequate protection of personal data transferred outside the EEA;
- Business risk – loss of business partners’ trust due to inadequate personal data protection.
A solution that can ensure a rapid completion of the implementation process of new SCCs is the use of matrices that automate the adaptation of contracts to new SCCs - depending on the requirements of a particular factual circumstances. There is no doubt that such solution can quickly and intuitively improve the ergonomics of using a given template, and thus speeds up the entire process of changing the contract, while offsetting the above-described risks.
For more information, see the attached alert.
