US gains access to European banking data in new five-year deal

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The European Council has agreed a new five-year deal to provide the US with full access to all banking data in its bid to track terrorist finance.

The EU governing body approved the agreement earlier this week after securing stronger privacy guarantees, with the deal now expected to gain approval from the European Parliament, which blocked an earlier deal over privacy concerns in February.

The agreement gives US officials the legal authority to request European financial data relevant to specific terror investigations, provided they can substantiate the need for it.

It ends a four-month standoff after the European Parliament rejected proposals to extend the existing agreement in February. That deal was set up in secret in the wake of the 11 September terror attacks in New York.

The main concern among liberal groups related to the length of time US authorities could hold onto personal data, as well as the potential for sharing it with other government bodies or potentially, third parties.

The new deal stipulates that the US will be able to retain data for a maximum of five years, with an EU official in Washington overseeing the program and monitoring any data requests. Inaccurate data must be deleted or corrected.

EU citizens will have the same redress as US subjects, with the ability to contest the use of their data in court.

European officials have indicated their intention to set up a central system with the ability and authority to filter financial data across the continent. At present, data is stored and maintained by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), a Brussels-based bank consortium.

“For us it was an exercise of damage limitation,” said Sophie in 't Veld, a Dutch Liberal Democrat member of the European Parliament, who indicated she would now vote to approve the deal.

“Currently, US authorities submit a request for a needle and we send them the whole haystack,” said in 't Veld. “In the future, we will no longer send the entire haystack. If the Americans are looking for a needle, we will find the needle and send it to the US authorities.”

The European Parliament vote is set for next week, with the deal expected to take effect on 1 August.

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