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EU, US sign anti-terror finance deal

28 June 2010, 18:32 CET
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EU, US sign anti-terror finance deal

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(BRUSSELS) - Europe and the United States signed on Monday a new deal allowing Washington to access bank data to track terrorist finance after easing European concerns about privacy rights.

The agreement now needs the green light from the European parliament, which had blocked an initial deal in February, barring the United States from seeing the bank data since then.

"This is a very, very strong agreement, we are very proud of it," Michael Dodman, the charge d'affaires of the US mission to the European Union, said after signing the deal.

"It is very important to the security of the United States and Europe," Dodman said, noting that the lack of an agreement had created a "security gap."

Cecilia Malmstroem, the EU commissioner for home affairs, said she was "quite optimistic" that the parliament would approve the new deal next week and that it would come into force August 1.

The deal, she said, "ensures the protection of personal data but also maintains a counter-terrorism programme that has saved lives and will continue to save lives in the US, in Europe and elsewhere as well."

The system was introduced in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States to help tackle the financing of terrorism.

The Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme allowed US access to information from the interbank money transfer system SWIFT to track suspect finances.

European lawmakers' main concern was that personal information, including data from electronic bank payments, would be used by US authorities, held for too long and handed on to other governments.

Under the new deal, the United States agreed to allow the presence of an EU official in Washington who will have the status of a US Treasury official and be able to monitor the use of banking data of EU citizens by US authorities.

EU citizens will also be given the same rights as Americans to contest the use of their data before US courts under the US Privacy Act.

Conservative and socialist lawmakers, who make up the top two blocs in the European parliament, indicated on Monday that they supported the changes made to the programme.

"It is the duty of the EU and the US to cooperate in protecting citizens from terrorism, but citizens have also the right to be protected against excessive state intrusion into their lives and potential mistakes," Martin Schulz, head of the Socialists and Democrats, said in a statement.

He said that after "intense confrontation," European governments had "finally come to terms with our demands," and that his group was therefore ready to "green light" the agreement.

The conservative European People's Party said the agreement included "high data protection standards."

"The chances of getting a majority for consent in the European parliament are good, as the commission and EU member states have met parliament's requests," the group said in a statement.


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