Brussels, 16/02/2009 (Agence Europe) - The European Union believes the Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme (TFTP) put in place by the United States is very satisfactory in terms of both combating terrorism and data protection. “We were satisfied that the system was effective in preventing and tackling terrorism, including tackling present threats,” said Jean-Louis Bruguière, former head of French anti-terrorist judges, at a press briefing on Monday 16 February. Appointed almost a year ago as EU representative to the United States on combating the funding of terrorism, Bruguière came to Brussels to present to MEPs his first report on how the US Treasury Department was meeting the commitments made to the EU as part of the follow-up to the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Transactions) affair. This telecommunications company, specialising in banking sector secure message handling systems, was accused in 2006 of transferring data to US anti-terrorism authorities, thereby infringing European data protection rules (see EUROPE 9618 and 9521). Bruguière drew “very positive” conclusions on the guarantees obtained on the TFTP system's data protection. “We have found that it is a system which brings real, and even unprecedented, guarantees in terms of data protection,” he said, stating that every means was put at his disposal in preparing his report, for example, access to classified documents and a number of sensitive sites. Data were taken from the SWIFT database “solely” for the purposes of combating terrorism, and were “used for no other purpose, and especially not economic espionage,” he added. He also said that there had been considerable developments in reducing the ratio of data taken from the database and those which were effectively to be used. He described the procedure designed to get rid of unused data as being particularly “effective”. In concluding, in general terms, on the system, Bruguière said, “It is a very fine example of what has to be done to tackle terrorism”. Justice, Liberty and Freedom Commissioner Jacques Barrot pointed out that it was a “positive report that showed that the US Treasury Department was meeting its commitments”. “I am pleased to confirm that the United States Treasury Department has been vigilant from the outset in respecting the safeguards in the handling of personal data included in the TFTP representations which we were able to negotiate with them back in 2007 and notably the strict counter terrorism purpose limitation, Barrot added. “The TFTP has generated significant value in the fight against terrorism, notably in Europe,” he concluded. Bruguière, appointed to his post for a renewable period of two years, is expected to submit a further report by the end of this year. (B.C./transl.rt)