A commercial data transfer pact provisionally agreed by the European Union and the United States in February has received the green light from EU governments, sources said.
It paves the way for it to enter into force next week.
EU member state representatives voted in favour of the EU-US Privacy Shield, which will underpin over $250bn of transatlantic trade in digital services by facilitating cross-border data transfers crucial to international business.
The European Commission, the EU executive, will formally adopt the Privacy Shield on Tuesday.
That will end months of legal limbo for companies such as Google, Facebook and MasterCard after the EU's top court struck down the previous data transfer framework on concerns about intrusive US surveillance.
