NATIONAL SECURITY AND DIGITAL PRIVACY: A CONVERSATION WITH CHIEF JUSTICE BRUNO LASSERRE - The Atlantic Council’s Europe Center hosted a virtual conversation with Bruno Lasserre, Chief Justice and Vice President of the Conseil d’État (Council of State) of France on Wednesday, September 15, 2021.

As France, the EU, and the United States grapple with regulating a digital future, a series of transatlantic legal and policy divergences have become apparent. Data privacy rights, the transfer of data abroad, regulation of online content, and the intersection of privacy and national security are all areas of differing philosophies and rules.

Chief Justice Lasserre joined the Council for a candid conversation about a number of digital technology issues from a legal perspective and discuss how the European and French approaches compare to the American alternative. He also discussed recent developments in France and the European Union regarding the intersection of privacy and national security and what implications these may have moving forward.

Serving in the highest position on the Conseil d’État, Chief Justice Lasserre is a central figure in the debate over national security and data privacy in France and Europe. The Conseil d’État is France’s highest administrative court, with jurisdiction over the country’s privacy regulator, the CNIL, among other bodies. In addition, it advises the French government and Parliament on future legislation. Chief Justice Lasserre has served as the Chief Justice and Vice President since 2018, and was a chief architect of an important and controversial ruling mandating France’s security agencies comply with a CJEU judgment in the La Quadrature du Net case.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 09/15/21