U.S. Rewrites Regulations For Europeans' Digital Privacy

"The U.S. is starting to implement a deal with the European Union aimed at allowing information about Europeans to continue to be stored on U.S. soil, reducing a looming threat to thousands of companies with trans-Atlantic operations.

President Biden on Friday issued an executive order giving Europeans new rights to challenge U.S. government-surveillance practices against them, a central element of the preliminary deal that the U.S. and the EU first outlined in March.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, must approve the U.S. move to put the data-flow agreement, dubbed the EU-U.S. data-privacy framework, into force -- a process that could take about six months.

The issue is drawing high-level attention because two previous data agreements were rejected by the EU's top court, and this new pact is likely to face legal challenges.

"The EU-U.S. data privacy framework will provide a durable and reliable legal foundation and certainty for trans-Atlantic data flows and create greater economic opportunities for companies and citizens on both sides of the Atlantic," said U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.

Ms. Raimondo said the executive order would strengthen privacy and civil-liberties protections, and would create a mechanism for Europeans to seek redress if they believe they are being unlawfully targeted by U.S. intelligence activities.

She said the order includes a multilayered review process that draws in the civil-liberties protection officer in the office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The executive order also would create a new U.S. court, the Data Protection Review Court, for secondary review of cases.

The executive order is important "because it addresses the conditions and safeguards under which U.S. intelligence authorities will be able to access data transfers from the EU," an EU official said.

The order specifies when intelligence authorities can collect personal data, such as for investigating terrorism and other crimes, and limits how long it can be retained, the official said. Methods of data collection must be proportionate to requirements, the official said, meaning that authorities must also consider less intrusive measures and the consequences that surveillance would have on an individual.

If Europeans suspect their data has been accessed by U.S. intelligence authorities, they can file complaints to national privacy authorities in their home countries. The U.S. civil-liberties protection officer will determine whether their data was accessed, and can order intelligence agencies to delete personal data or correct it if it is incorrect, the EU official said.

If concluded, the deal could resolve one of the thorniest outstanding issues between the two economic giants, which has festered since the EU's top court in 2020 ruled illegal an earlier deal authorizing trans-Atlantic data flows because it had deemed U.S. safeguards on Europeans' data to be insufficient -- particularly regarding government surveillance.

Hanging in the balance has been the ability of businesses to use U.S.-based data centers to do things such as sell online ads, measure their website traffic or manage company payroll in Europe. Completing a deal is particularly important for big U.S. technology companies, including Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc., which have faced several cases in which European privacy regulators -- citing the 2020 ruling -- are ordering them or their clients to cut off their transfer of data to the U.S.

The most prominent threat is a draft order for Meta's Facebook to stop sending certain data about its users to servers in the U.S., because it could be caught in surveillance requests. Under the EU's power-sharing rules, Ireland's Data Protection Commission in July submitted the draft order to privacy regulators across the bloc, which are discussing potential changes, and it could be officially issued in coming months, according to people familiar with the process. Ireland leads EU privacy enforcement for Facebook because the company's regional headquarters are in Dublin.

Even if there is no final data deal before Ireland issues its order, Facebook could appeal the order in court, a process that could take months or years to play out, effectively keeping its data flows running. The company has warned in securities filings that should it lose the ability to store data in the U.S., it might no longer be able to offer some of its services in Europe.

At the same time, in France and Austria, regulators citing the 2020 EU court decision have also in the past year ordered certain websites to stop using Alphabet's Google Analytics service because it sends information about users' internet addresses to the U.S., where the regulators say it could be requested by government agencies. Similar cases are pending in other EU countries.

Meta and Google were among tech companies that on Friday described the U.S. changes as an important step in securing the ability for companies to send data across the Atlantic.

The deal announced Friday is the latest effort to resolve more than two decades of squabbling about how to balance trade relations and privacy rules across the Atlantic.

The EU official said European negotiators are confident they could defend the data deal against legal challenges." [1]

1. World News: U.S. Rewrites Regulations For Europeans' Digital Privacy
Schechner, Sam; Stupp, Catherine. 
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 08 Oct 2022: A.9.

 

 

Gamyba Vokietijoje mažėja, nes dėl aukštų energijos kainų nukenčia gamyklos

„Rugpjūčio mėn. Vokietijos gamyklų gamyba sumažėjo dėl energijos imlių pramonės šakų mažinimo, nes sumažėjus gamtinių dujų tiekimui iš Rusijos, išaugo sąnaudos.

 

    Atskiri skaičiai rodo, kad per mėnesį staigiai sumažėjo naujų užsakymų, o mažmeninės prekybos apimtys taip pat mažėja, todėl viena iš pasaulio pramonės galių toliau mažės, nes sankcijų Rusijai daroma žala pasaulinei ekonomikai ir toliau auga.

 

    Iki šiol šiemet įmonėms teko didžiausią naštą dėl energijos kainų kilimo Vokietijoje ir daugiausiai sutaupytų dujų suvartojimo, o namų ūkių suvartojimas pastarosiomis savaitėmis išaugo nuo praėjusių metų.

 

    Gamintojams taikomų sankcijų kaina iš dalies priklausys nuo praėjusio mėnesio pabaigoje paskelbtų vyriausybės priemonių, ribojančių energijos kainas įmonėms ir vartotojams, tačiau kurios dar turi būti detaliai išdėstytos.

 

    Tas pats pasakytina ir apie visą Europą, nes ekonomikos likimas daugiausia priklauso nuo alternatyvų rusiškoms dujoms prieinamumo ir žemyno gebėjimo vengti energijos normavimo.

 

    „Istorijoje visiškai dominuoja tai, kas atsitiks su dujomis, dujų tiekimu ir fiskalinės politikos atsaku į dujas“, – sakė buvęs Tarptautinio valiutos fondo vyriausiasis ekonomistas, o dabar Petersono tarptautinės ekonomikos instituto bendradarbis Olivier Blanchardas. „Yra didžiulis netikrumas“.

 

    Remiantis šios savaitės vyriausybės duomenimis, Vokietijos dujų saugyklos užpildytos daugiau, nei 92 proc., todėl tik nedaugelis ekspertų mano, kad šią žiemą šalyje pritrūks dujų, neskaitant užsitęsusio šalčio atvejo, tačiau tikėtina, kad aukštos kainos išliks, o atsargos kitai žiemai nėra garantuotos.

 

    Vokietijos statistikos biuras penktadienį pranešė, kad pramonės gamyba rugpjūčio mėnesį buvo 0,8% mažesnė, nei liepą ir 2,9% mažiau, nei vasario mėnesį, kai buvo pradėtos taikyti sankcijos Rusijai.

 

    Gamyba vaidina didesnį vaidmenį Vokietijos ekonomikoje, nei daugelyje kitų šalių, kurios labiau priklauso nuo paslaugų ir vartojimo.

 

    Praėjusią savaitę dujų nuotėkis iš dujotiekio „Nord Stream 1“ ir jo uždaryto dvynio, dujotiekio „Nord Stream 2“, po seismografuose užregistruotų detonacijų sukėlė baimę dėl galimos sabotažo operacijos ir sukėlė klausimų dėl Europos energetikos infrastruktūros saugumo.

 

    Dėl aukštesnių dujų kainų kai kurioms, daug energijos naudojančioms, pramonės šakoms buvo sunku pelningai gaminti ir parduoti savo produktus, todėl sumažėjo gamyba. Savo penktadienį paskelbtame statistikos biure „Destatis“ nurodė, kad įvairių sektorių, kuriuose naudojama daug energijos – chemijos, metalų ir keramikos – gamyba sumažėjo 2,1 %, palyginti su liepos mėn., ir 8,6 % nuo vasario mėn.

 

    Atskirame ketvirtadienį paskelbtame statistikos biure teigiama, kad naujų gamyklinių prekių užsakymų skaičius rugpjūtį, palyginti su liepos mėn., sumažėjo 2,4 proc., o labiausiai mažėjo Vokietijos, o ne užsienio pirkėjų.

 

    „Šiandieniniai duomenys yra tarsi slapta apžvalga apie dar daugiau“, – savo pranešime klientams rašė ING banko ekonomistas Carstenas Bžeskis. "Aukštos energijos kainos vis labiau apsunkins privatų vartojimą ir pramonės gamybą, todėl ekonomikos susitraukimas bus neišvengiamas. Tik klausimas, kiek toks susitraukimas ar nuosmukis bus stiprus." [1]

 

 

Tai yra didžiulė sėkmė Kinijai, kuri siekia persikelti auksčiau gamybos grandinėje, aplenkdama Vokietiją.

 

1. World News: German Production Declines As Energy Prices Hit Factories
Hannon, Paul. 
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 08 Oct 2022: A.8.

German Production Declines As Energy Prices Hit Factories

"German factory output fell in August, driven by cutbacks in energy-intensive industries as costs surged following reductions in the supply of natural gas from Russia.

With separate figures showing a sharp drop in new orders during the month, and retail sales also falling, the outlook is for further declines in one of the world's industrial powerhouses as the global economic damage caused by the sanctions on Russia continues to mount.

So far this year, businesses have borne the brunt of energy price rises in Germany and are responsible for most of the savings in gas consumption, with household usage up from last year in recent weeks.

The cost of the sanctions for manufacturers partly will depend on government measures to limit the price of energy for businesses and consumers, which were announced late last month but which have yet to be set out in detail.

The same is true for Europe as a whole, with the fate of the economy largely resting on the availability of alternatives to Russian gas and the continent's ability to avoid energy rationing.

"The story is totally dominated by what's going to happen to gas, gas supply and fiscal policy response to gas," said Olivier Blanchard, formerly the International Monetary Fund's chief economist and now a fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. "There is enormous uncertainty."

With gas stores in Germany more than 92% full according to this week's government figures, few experts expect the country to run out of gas this winter barring a prolonged cold spell, but high prices are likely to endure and supplies for the following winter aren't guaranteed.

Germany's statistics office Friday said industrial production was 0.8% lower in August than in July, and down 2.9% from February, when sanctions on Russia began.

Manufacturing plays a bigger part in Germany's economy than in many others that rely more on services and consumption.

Last week, gas leaks from that pipeline and its closed twin pipeline, Nord Stream 2, following detonations registered on seismographs raised fears about a possible sabotage operation and prompted questions about the security of Europe's energy infrastructure.

Higher gas prices have made it difficult for some energy-intensive industries to make and sell their products at a profit, leading to cutbacks in output. In its release Friday, the statistics office, Destatis, said output in a range of sectors that use a lot of energy -- chemicals, metals and ceramics -- was down 2.1% from July and 8.6% since February.

In a separate release Thursday, the statistics office said new orders for factory-made goods fell 2.4% in August from July, with German rather than overseas buyers cutting back most sharply.

"Today's data are like a sneak preview of more to come," wrote Carsten Brzeski, an economist at ING Bank, in a note to clients. "High energy prices will increasingly weigh on private consumption and industrial production, making a contraction of the economy inevitable. The only question is how severe such a contraction or recession will be."" [1]

That is a big luck for China that is angling to get up in production chain, out-competing Germany.

 

1. World News: German Production Declines As Energy Prices Hit Factories
Hannon, Paul. 
Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 08 Oct 2022: A.8.