[Infowarrior] - EU Committee Says No To Bank Data Sharing

[Richard Forno]

  Finance | 05.02.2010 Washington threatens to bypass Europe in battle  
for bank data

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,5220092,00.html

The US is threatening to stop working with Europe in the fight against  
terrorism after an EU parliamentary group rejected a proposed data- 
sharing agreement. A final EU vote is scheduled for next week.

The United States has warned that it may stop working with EU  
institutions on terrorist data exchange if the European Parliament  
next week blocks a bilateral deal on the issue.

"If the European parliament overturns the agreement, I am unsure  
whether Washington agencies would again decide to address this issue  
at EU level," US ambassador to the EU William Kennard wrote in a  
letter sent to European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek, according to  
news agency AFP.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also called Buzek and EU foreign  
affairs chief Catherine Ashton to voice Washington's concern over the  
issue.

Members of a European Parliament subcommittee dealt a blow to US-EU  
relations by voting to reject a proposed bank data sharing deal  
between the US and Europe in a preliminary vote on Thursday.

The agreement allows the US to access information gathered by the  
Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT)  
about bank transfers within Europe. SWIFT manages global transactions  
between thousands of financial institutions in over 200 countries.

Members of the parliament's civil liberties committee voted by 29  
votes to 23 to reject the SWIFT deal, arguing that the deal fails to  
protect the privacy of EU citizens.

US authorities say access to bank details is vital to counterterrorism  
efforts, but many in Europe object to the widespread invasion of  
privacy.

Agreement in jeopardy

The proposed short-term agreement went into force on February 1 for an  
initial period of nine months, while the two sides negotiate a  
permanent system. However, the interim agreement still has to be  
ratified by the European Parliament. The committee's rejection of the  
measure, though advisory in nature, could be an indication that the  
bill will fail in the final parliamentary vote. If parliament votes  
against it next week, the measure will be suspended.

The US previously had access to bank transfer data, but lost it when  
Belgian-based SWIFT moved its servers from the United States to  
Europe. It now wants a permanent agreement granting access to the  
data, which US terrorism investigators say has played a key role in  
several cases, including one in which they say an attack on a trans- 
Atlantic flight was prevented.

smh/dpa/Reuters/AFP
Editor: Nancy Isenson