Brussels, 18/12/2009 (Agence Europe) - Further to a proposal by the Belgian Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE), the leaders of the groups of the European Parliament on Thursday 17 December called for a number of conditions to be fulfilled before they will give their blessing to the Swift agreement, which was signed at the end of November between the EU and the United States. This agreement aims to allow the United States to continue to use European banking information held by the company Swift as part of their Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, TFTP (EUROPE 10030). Before it gives its green light, the Parliament is calling for unrestricted access to all documents and information related to the current Swift agreement. Then, the negotiation mandate of the Council for a long-term agreement, which will replace the temporary agreement due to expire on 31 October 2010, must take account of the concerns of the Parliament as laid down in its September resolution (EUROPE 9979). The temporary agreement on Swift was signed as a matter of some urgency on 30 November, the day before the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. The Parliament takes the view that by acting in this way, the Council deliberately planned to avoid having to take account of its objections. If no amendment can be made to the text, however, the Parliament must still give its approval (most likely in January 2010), before the agreement can be definitively ratified. The President of the EP, Jerzy Buzek (EPP, Poland), has therefore been given a mandate by the leaders of the political groups to communicate the Parliament's requirements to the forthcoming Spanish Presidency and to include this subject on the agenda of the January plenary session. (B.C./trans.fl)