MEPs criticise bank data transfer deal

Civil liberties committee told that requests for data from the US are vague and may not comply with EU rules.

MEPs have raised concerns about the way the EU deals with banking data transfer requests from the United States.

Members of the European Parliament’s civil liberties committee were today (16 March) told that it was impossible to verify whether data requested by US authorities on bank transfers complied with a EU-US anti-terrorism accord. That deal, which was implemented last August, is supposed to ensure such requests comply with EU data protection rules.

Europol, the European police office, is supposed to review each request for data from the US Treasury to make sure the information transferred is in line with EU rules. The US Treasury requests the data under the Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme (TFTP), which is used to hunt down the financial backers of terrorist groups.

Isabel Cruz, who chairs the Europol Joint Supervisory Body (JSB), which was set up to supervise the transfers requested by the US Treasury, said four requests made during the first six months of the deal were so vague that it was impossible to verify whether they were in line with EU rules.

She said the process was further complicated by the fact that US officials had merely asked for information, not submitted written requests.
 
Cruz made the remarks to MEPs while presenting a report on the first six months of the EU-US accord.

The report, drafted by the European Commission, said there was room for improvement in the administration of the programme but found no major flaws.

The report said the EU’s review team, which included officials from the Commission, the Belgian and Dutch data protection authorities, and an expert from the EU’s permanent network of prosecutors (Eurojust), found all data protection provisions had been implemented.

Cecilia Malmström, the European commissioner for home affairs, said the review team had made recommendations calling for “increased transparency and more written information to Europol”.

Alexander Alvaro, a German Liberal MEP, said the review showed that “the implementation of the new fundamental rights-related obligations have failed”. Alvaro, who is responsible for the banking transfer deal in the Parliament, said the report also raised questions about whether the agreement should continue at all.

Alvaro said the agreement should be suspended if the problems cannot be overcome.

Simon Busuttil, a Maltese centre-right MEP, said MEPs should not be surprised at the review’s findings, adding that there should be “additional safeguards” to ensure the requests for data comply with EU law.

Claude Moraes, a British centre-left MEP, suggested that US requests should be more “narrowly tailored” and should include a written explanation justifying the request.

The committee asked Rob Wainwright, the director of Europol, to appear before the committee to answer questions on the issue.