Brussels, 03/05/2010 (Agence Europe) - European Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said on Friday 30 April that she wanted to bring forward a draft mandate for the negotiation of a framework agreement on data protection with the United States. “A data protection agreement has to be negotiated with the United States framing all the specific agreements,” she told press in Berlin. “I'm working on it. I want to present it at the end of May and I hope that the Council will act on it as quickly as possible so that I can negotiate it with my US counterpart this summer,” she added, as reported by AFP. “When we have an agreement of this kind, it will no longer be possible to ignore the framework,” she stated, alluding to the difficult talks with Washington on the use to be made by the United States of European citizens' banking information (Swift agreement). On 10 May, the European Commission will be officially charged with re-negotiating this key agreement in combating terrorism (see EUROPE 10127). The previous agreement was thrown out by the European Parliament in February. “I have phoned my American counterpart to tell him that it's not a declaration of war on the United States, but a declaration of war by the European Parliament on its own ministers,” Reding said of this rejection. Internal Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström is hoping a new agreement will be reached before summer, allowing the United States access to the banking data and information of some 8,000 institutions and banks of 200 countries, managed by the Swift company, which has its headquarters in Brussels. “Our American friends are fully aware that the time has gone when we could be dictated to. We will negotiate as one equal partner with another, and the European Parliament will, then, give its approval,” Reding said. (B.C./transl.rt)