Singapore, EU to strengthen bilateral cooperation for personal data protection

In a meeting on March 3, between the Acting Commissioner of Singapore’s Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC), Denise Wong, and the European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, Michael McGrath, both sides agreed to further develop their partnership on issues of common interest, notably through the exchange of knowledge, experience and best practices to enhance data protection and trusted data flows. 

This included exploring the use of privacy-enhancing technologies, in support of the digital economy and advancing the protection of children in the digital environment, which is a priority area for both sides.  

In a joint statement, the European Commission and PDPC said that they will further develop their collaboration on issues of common interest. 

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Singapore and the EU’s shared vision and commitments 

The two officials also exchanged views on the benefits of promoting cooperation among regional data protection networks and agreed to work towards facilitating such dialogue.  

The statement said that priority areas included developing a “digital economy and advancing the protection of children in the digital environment.”  

This will be supported through the exchange of knowledge, experience and best practices to enhance data protection and trusted data flows, including exploring the use of privacy-enhancing technologies. 

The meeting was part of the Commissioner’s McGrath first visit to Singapore by a Commissioner in the new European Commission mandate on December 1, 2024. 

“The Singapore-EU trading relationship is particularly important ... Singapore is the EU’s fifth largest trading partner for services globally and undoubtedly the most important trade and investment partner for the EU in the Southeast Asian region,” shared Commissioner McGrath in a LinkedIn post. 

The ASEAN-EU Strategic Partnership in 2020 is said to have “opened a new chapter” in fostering trusted cross-border data flows where both regions elevated their partnership with a commitment to regular summits at leaders’ level. 

This was followed by the 2022 EU-Indo-Pacific Joint Declaration where twelve nations from the Indo-Pacific region, including Singapore, India, Australia and Japan. 

The agreement was signed to foster international cooperation to promote high data protection and privacy standards, including safeguards for international transfers, enforceable rights of individuals, and comprehensive legal frameworks and policies covering both the private and public sectors. 

Reflecting on the vision, the statement added that the PDPC and the European Commission have stepped up their cooperation of late, yielding milestone agreements. 

In particular, the Joint Guide to the ASEAN Model Contractual Clauses and EU Standard Contractual Clauses published in 2023 has proven to be a valuable tool to assist businesses active in both regions.

“Through many examples of best practices in this area, it contributes to support the compliance efforts of companies, particularly micro, small and medium enterprises, that seek to participate fully in the digital economy,” the statement read.  

More cross-border cooperations in a digitalised world 

The statement added that both sides welcomed further cooperation to expand such efforts to other regional data protection networks, taking note of the completed mapping of the ASEAN and Ibero-American Data Protection Network’s respective model contractual clauses. 

Moreover, both parties looked forward to continuing their close cooperation which can contribute to further strengthening the partnership between the EU and Singapore, in line with other bilateral initiatives such as the recently negotiated EU-Singapore Digital Trade Agreement and the EU-Singapore Digital Partnership. 

Singapore and the EU also recently established a framework for collaboration to enhance AI safety as part of a bilateral arrangement to support wider efforts by the international AI Safety Institutes (AISIs) Network – of which both Singapore and the EU are members.   

Commissioner McGrath will be meeting with businesses, government authorities, representatives of civil society during his stay in Singapore.  

He also engaged with students from the Singapore Management University (SMU) on March 3 where he addressed common challenges and opportunities for the EU and Singapore in empowering businesses and consumers in the digital age. 

“On an annual basis, trade in goods and services is over €130 billion (S$222 billion)... Of course, the trading relationship is underpinned by trusted data flows which will be a very important aspect of my mission,” said Commissioner McGrath in his post.