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EU Parliament Rejects Bank Data Deal with US

   VOA News 11 February 2010
   European  Parliament  members  vote on trans-Atlantic deal to exchange
   banking  data  in  an  attempt  to  go after those who fund terrorism,
   Strasbourg, eastern France, 11 Feb 2010

Photo: AP

   European  Parliament  members  vote on trans-Atlantic deal to exchange
   banking  data  in  an  attempt  to  go after those who fund terrorism,
   Strasbourg, eastern France, 11 Feb 2010

   The   European   parliament  has  blocked  an  agreement  allowing  US
   authorities  to  access  European  banking  data  for  use  in  terror
   investigations.
   EU  lawmakers  rejected the deal, by a vote of 378 to 196, Thursday in
   Strasbourg, France.
   Parliament  President  Jerzy  Buzek  said the assembly wants more data
   privacy  protection  to  ensure  that  civil liberties and fundamental
   rights would be protected.
   The  US  mission in Brussels said the outcome is a setback for US - EU
   counter-terrorism cooperation.
   Without  the  deal,  the  United  States  must  now rely on individual
   agreements with EU member nations in order to access information, such
   as European bank transfers.
   The  United  States has been examining European financial data handled
   by  the  Society  for  Worldwide  Interbank Financial Transactions, or
   SWIFT, since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
   But  SWIFT plans to move some of its data bases from the United States
   to  Europe, and without a new deal, U.S. investigators will be limited
   under  strict  EU  laws,  that  restrict the gathering of data to U.S.
   citizens alone.



   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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