Brussels, 05/05/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 5 May, the European Parliament set out its conditions with regard to the content of the new agreement on which negotiations are about to begin between the European Commission and the United States on the transfer of financial messaging data to prevent and combat terrorism. Parliament “reiterates its openness to an agreement which would help both Europe and the United States strengthen their fight against terrorism in the interests of the security of their citizens, without undermining the rule of law”, says a resolution adopted in plenary session in Brussels. EU member states will, on 10 May, adopt a negotiating mandate, thereby marking the start of discussions with the United States on the “Swift” agreement (see EUROPE 10125). In its resolution, Parliament says it is determined to fight terrorism, but insists that European legal requirements for the fair, proportionate and lawful processing of personal information must be upheld. MEPs especially want any exchange of information to be “strictly limited” to that required for the purposes of combating terrorism. They repeat that bulk data transfers “mark a departure from the principles underpinning EU legislation”, and ask the Commission and Council to address this issue properly in the negotiations. They take the view that the Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance is “not an adequate basis for requests to obtain data for the purposes of the TFTP” (Terrorist Finance and Tracking Program) and call on the Commission to seek a solution to this issue. The resolution says that a judicial public authority should be designated in the EU with responsibility for receiving requests from the United States Treasury Department. An (S&D) amendment calls, ultimately, for extraction of information of the data requested by the US Treasury Department taking place on EU soil overseen by an EU judicial authority. In the meantime, MEPs want EU staff “with high clearance” to work in the US to monitor the extraction of the data and the use to which they are put. Reciprocity also means that the US authorities should authorise EU authorities access to data stored in the US, MEPs point out. They also call for access to the documents that demonstrate the necessity of the scheme and want to know if the planned agreement will guarantee the same rights of appeal to European citizens as to Americans in the event of wrongful use of the data. MEPs emphasise that personal data extracted from the database must be kept on the basis of a strictly interpreted “necessity” principle and for no longer than necessary for the specific investigation or prosecution. They want non-extracted data to be held for no more than five years. Disclosure of data to third countries should only take place under strict conditions and if appropriate guarantees are provided, MEPs say. (B.C./transl.rt)