EU-US SWIFT bank data agreement
Parliament must stop Council in its tracks
An interim EU agreement to supply data from SWIFT bank transfers to the US authorities is due to come into effect on 1 February. The European Parliament, which has a co-legislative role on this issue, is expected to vote on 8 or 9 February at its plenary session in Strasbourg. Following today's EU Parliament civil liberties committee debate on the agreement, Greens/EFA home affairs spokesman Jan-Philipp Albrecht commented:
"The European Parliament must clearly reject the EU agreement to submit bank transfer data to the US authorities. EU governments are on the verge of betraying their citizens and democracy. A major infringement of fundamental rights is due to be provisionally applied before any parliament has had a chance to vote on it. This is an exceptionally staggering situation, which must not be allowed to pass without consequences.
Parliament's civil liberties committee today reiterated its substantial criticisms of the agreement. The Council seems unwilling to give concrete answers or to provide evidence to back its claim that the bank data are needed to fight terrorism. Trust in the Council has been fundamentally eroded. The Greens call on governments in the Council to halt the provisional application of the agreement and finally recognise the new co-legislative role of the Parliament in this area."
