EU anti-terror deal with US reversed

Euro-MPs this afternoon forced the reopening of an anti-terrorism deal with Washington.

An EU accord giving American officials access to details of the personal banking transactions of EU citizens had already been initialled by the European Commission.

But MEPs angry that their concerns about privacy protection were being ignored continued pressing for tougher controls on the use of the information.

Now last-minute negotiations between MEPs and EU ambassadors have produced an unprecedented reversal after the deal was all but done.

Labour MEP Claude Moraes, the party’s spokesman in the European Parliament on civil liberties, commented: “This is the first time ever that an agreement with the US, already initialled, has been reopened. The credit for this goes to the pressure mounted by the European Parliament.”

He said key concessions had now been won giving the EU direct oversight of the way data on personal banking transactions by European citizens are used by the Americans as part of their anti-terrorism surveillance, known as the “Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme”.

The original agreement, which MEPs feared could lead to abuses of the private information of Europeans, was endorsed by the European Commission eight days ago.

Despite protests, Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom was reluctant to reconsider the details – until EU member states lobbied by MEPs overruled the Commission.

MEPs will now table amendments which are expected to go through next month, with the new deal in place at the start of August.

It means a current arrangement for the “bulk transfer” of personal bank data will be replaced by a system in which EU officials oversee and, if necessary, block requests for data from the US authorities.

Mr Moraes said: “The sharing of banking information can be invaluable in investigating terrorist groups, but it has to be used wisely, and the deal we have reached strikes the right balance.”

He went on: “Intelligence services will always push for access to more and more data, but it is the targeted use of this information that will actually help tackle this type of crime.”

A German Liberal MEP Alexander Alvaro said the result met the security and privacy concerns of EU citizens: “This will be the first time that a European official will be able to supervise the activities of a US service in the US.

“Parliament has stood up for citizens’ rights to privacy by insisting that the current transfer of bulk data via Swift will be replaced by a properly controlled European data transfer system.”

The outcome was also a landmark for MEPs’ muscle-flexing: “This agreement marks a new step in Parliament’s powers. Not only is it the first time that a European official will be able to control and correct the operations of American agencies on US territory but sets a new marker for European democratic oversight over international agreements.”