SWIFT Agreement Adopted
Brussels, 28 June 2010.
The Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme (TFTP) with the USA was today adopted by the Council in a written procedure. The agreement will now be sent to the European Parliament which needs to give its consent by a majority of its members before the agreement can be concluded and enter into force.
This marks a positive step in what has been a difficult process. The Parliament managed to reopen the agreement, securing concessions on the issues of bulk transfers, the future creation of an EU TFTP system and European oversight on US soil.
As the European Conservative and Reformists' Justice and Home Affairs spokesman, Timothy has been a strong proponent of the agreement and he is urging MEPs to back the deal as soon as possible in order to "close the data gap", which has left transatlantic security vulnerable.
Mr Kirkhope said,
"I hope that now the Council has agreed this amended version of the agreement in which many of the Parliaments concerns have been addressed, that we can go ahead and give consent in the July Strasbourg session and close the current data gap between the USA and Europe.
"I'm very pleased about the modifications that have been made. The agreement is not perfect but ultimately it gets the job done whilst addressing civil liberties concerns.
"I hope that lessons have been learnt from this whole process, in both the way the Parliament and the EU institutions have behaved. In these negotiations the EU has come away with a great deal and MEPs now need to be responsible and restore the reputation of the EU."
Timothy will travel to the USA for discussions on the Passenger Name Records (PNR) agreement, which will also progress through the Parliament shortly. He added,
"I am pleased that the Parliament can carry a positive message to Washington this week, where the future PNR agreement will be discussed.
"The USA has shown goodwill and patience with the EU and with MEPs. Let's hope that we can have another successful round of negotiations on this equally important agreement."
