Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the number of UK businesses that engage in data transfers with nations within the EU.

The number of UK businesses that engage in data transfers with EU Member States cannot be quantified directly. However, it is in everyone’s interests that the exchange of data between EU Member States and the UK continues and is unrestricted. Data flows envelop all trade in goods and services as well as other business and personal relations. They are a key driver of global trade and the life-blood of our digital economy.

The government’s recent White Paper (available on gov.uk) sets out an ambitious future relationship with the EU on data protection. It details an agreement that builds on standard EU adequacy arrangements to provide ongoing regulatory cooperation and joined up enforcement action between UK and EU data protection authorities, as well as a clear, transparent framework to facilitate dialogue and minimise the risk of disruption to flows of personal data.