Britain is running out of time to agree a data deal with Brussels

Britain is at “the end of the queue” for a deal with Brussels that would allow for the free flow of data across borders, an EU official has warned.

Wojciech Wiewiorowski, the EU’s data protection supervisor, said that the UK was “13th in the row” of countries attempting to broker data deals with Europe.

Allowing the UK to fast-track the process due to Brexit  “would be a little bit unfair towards those who have already prepared themselves for this process,” he told the Financial Times.

Currently, data can flow freely across the EU as long as companies abide by General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). GDPR is being incorporated in UK law, and Britain has said it will continue to all data flows to Europe. However, Brussels is yet to match that promise.

A deal on data will prove crucial to UK businesses. According to industry group TechUK, more than three-quarters of UK data transfers are with EU countries. Cross border data flows account for 3.8pc of GDP and allow companies across every industry to transfer information about customers and services.

The UK will begin trade negotiations with the EU next year, but officials in Brussels believe that leaves very little time to negotiate a data deal before the end of the transition period.

In August, a study by University College London said that potential problems with data transfers post-Brexit have received “minimal attention.” “UK economic activity is dependent on these flows,” it said.

“But disruption would place immense compliance burdens on individual organisations which would have to invest in legal and administrative fees to ensure EU-UK data transfers remained lawful.”

Rob Wainwright, the former British boss of Europol, has previously warned there will be “a loss of influence” for Britain if it doesn’t have access to crime data from Europe.