Today, the consortium of European data protection authorities, the Article 29 Working Party (“WP29”), released a much awaited statement on the consequences of the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) decision that invalidated the Safe Harbor framework. Companies will be relieved to find that alternative transfer mechanisms, such as Model Contracts or Binding Corporate Rules, are not at risk for the moment. The WP29’s main focus is on the new “EU-US Privacy Shield” that will replace the Safe Harbor framework. While the details of the “EU-US Privacy Shield” have not been published yet, the WP29 has welcome this “arrangement.” The WP29 will monitor that some essential guarantees are provided to EU citizens when their data are accessed by surveillance agencies in the U.S. A remaining concern pertains to the effective remedies that will be available to European citizens. The WP29 will reassess its general position on data transfers to the U.S.  by the end of the month, and will, in particular, issue a position paper on the “EU-US Privacy Shield” as well as on alternative transfer mechanisms.