US urges EU assembly not to block bank data deal
James L. Jones
(MUNICH) - US National Security Advisor James Jones Saturday appealed to the European parliament not to block a deal allowing a transatlantic exchange of data considered vital to combat terror financing.
"This programme has safeguards. It protects privacy. It has prevented terrorist attacks and saved lives, including here in Europe," he told security experts and senior officials at a conference in Munich, southern Germany.
European governments have already endorsed a nine-month agreement permitting US justice authorities to data from the interbank transfer service SWIFT, but the deal needs EU parliamentary backing to have legal weight.
The parliament's primary concern is that personal information, possibly including data from electronic bank payments, could be transferred to US authorities and handed on to other governments.
A longer-term agreement must be negotiated, and the assembly fears the interim deal may set dangerous precedents and tie EU hands in future negotiations.
A key parliament civil liberties committee voted Thursday against the deal.
However US, and indeed many EU, officials fear that a security gap could be created without the interim, opening a potentially perilous loophole for extremists to use.
Jones said it was vital to combat Al Qaeda, not just in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but also to stop it moving from Somalia to Sudan and the Sahel and establish new sanctuaries.
"This requires better information sharing, even more aggressive law enforcement and working together to build the capacity of partners nations like Yemen to defend themselves," he said.
"It will also require something else -- continued cooperation to track and stop the funds that fuel terrorists," he said
"With the European parliament's support for sustaining this important agreement, the United States looks forward to further cooperation in this area with our European partners to protect our citizens," Jones said.
The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), based near Brussels, deals with trillions of dollars in global transactions daily between nearly 8,000 financial institutions in 200-plus countries.
In 2006, SWIFT admitted that it had provided US authorities with some personal data in the wake of the September 11 attacks in 2001 for the purpose of fighting extremists but insisted it had done its utmost to protect privacy.
Further information :
Press release on SWIFT Interim Agreement - 27-01-2010
Web site of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
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