Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the joint report from the Commission and the U.S. Treasury Department regarding the value of TFTP provided data pursuant to Article 6 (6) of the agreement between the European Union and the United States of America on the processing and transfer of financial messaging data from the European Union to the United States for the purposes of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program

In accordance with Article 6(6) of the Agreement between the European Union and the United States of America on the Processing and Transfer of Financial Messaging Data from the European Union to the United States for the Purposes of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, the European Commission and the U.S. Treasury Department have prepared the joint report regarding the value of Terrorist Finance Tracking Program (TFTP) Provided Data, "with particular emphasis on the value of data retained for multiple years and relevant information obtained from the joint review conducted pursuant to Article 13."

The information for the Report has been provided by the U.S. Treasury Department, Europol, and the Member States. The Report focuses on how the TFTP Provided Data have been used and the value the data bring to counter terrorism investigations in the United States and the EU. The Report includes multiple concrete examples where TFTP data, including data retained for three years or more, have been valuable in counter terrorism investigations, in the United States and the EU, before and since the Agreement entered into force on 1 August 2010.

In addition to this Report, other examples of the usefulness and value of the TFTP data have been presented in the context of the two joint reviews, carried out in February 2011 and October 2012, pursuant to Article 13 of the Agreement. As a whole, these factual and concrete sets of information constitute a considerable step forward in further explaining the functioning and the added value of the TFTP. The Report also describes the methodology for the assessment of retention periods by the U.S. Treasury Department and deletion of non-extracted data.

The Report demonstrates that TFTP Provided Data, including data retained for multiple years, have been delivering very important value for the counter terrorism efforts in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere.

See also:
- Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the Joint Review of the implementation of the Agreement between the European Union and the United States of America on the processing and transfer of passenger name records to the United States Department of Homeland Security

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: EU-US agreements: Commission reports on TFTP and PNR http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-eu-us-agreements-commission-reports-on-tftp-and-pnr/

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