(Telecompaper) The European Union and the US have agreed on a new framework for protecting the privacy of personal data passed by companies between the two territories, the European Commission announced. To be known as the EU-US Privacy Shield, the agreement comes on the deadline of 02 February set by EU privacy regulators to reach an agreement. The new arrangement will provide stronger obligations on companies in the US to protect the personal data of Europeans and stronger monitoring and enforcement by the US Department of Commerce and Federal Trade Commission, including through increased cooperation with EU data protection authorities. The US has committed to ensuring that access for American authorities to personal data transferred from the EU will be subject to clear conditions, limitations and oversight, preventing generalised access, the EC sai. Europeans will have the possibility to raise any enquiry or complaint in this context with a dedicated new ombudsperson.