Civil liberties committee eyes Congress

MEPs are soon to meet members of the US Congress for a discussion on civil liberties concerns arising from security co-operation between the EU and the US.

The meeting will take place either in the coming weeks in Washington or in April in Berlin or Brussels and will involve members of the European Parliament’s civil liberties committee and Congress’s judiciary and homeland security committees, a Parliament official confirmed.

One of the main subjects of the discussion will be the transfer to the US authorities for counter-terrorism purposes of information on people travelling by plane to the US or sending money through the bank-owned SWIFT system, used to enable cross-border financial transfers.

Jean-Marie Cavada, chairman of the Parliament’s civil liberties committee, recently wrote to Patrick Leahy, chairman of the US Senate committee on the judiciary and Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House of Representatives committee on homeland security, requesting a meeting.

Topics for discussion, according to the letter, would include: "Judiciary and police co-operation, combating terrorism internationally, visas and immigration policy, inspecting containers, issues in connection with biometrics and especially the protection of personal data (in particular airline ‘passenger name record’ (PNR) data and the treatment of data in connection with financial transfers under the SWIFT system)."

Cavada said: "We consider that such important matters affecting the interests and rights of both US and EU citizens should also be the subject of transatlantic dialogue between the parliamentary committees of Congress and the European Parliament."

The agreement between the EU and US on the transfer of airline passenger data has caused particular concern in the civil liberties committee, leading to a challenge in the European Court of Justice and the striking down of the deal by the court last year. A new deal is to be agreed before the end of July and MEPs are keen to ensure that EU negotiators do not give in to US demands for further pieces of information, to be transferred earlier and held for longer.

Separately, the EU’s data protection supervisors ruled last year that the transfer of personal banking details to the US authorities by the Belgium-based SWIFT, which was served with subpoenas in 2002 to hand over the data, is illegal and in violation of EU data protection laws.

MEPs are expected on 15 February to endorse a resolution expressing concern over the transfer of airline passenger and SWIFT information and calling for better protection of data in the area of security and policing. The resolution will also highlight concerns with the Automated Targeting System (ATS), used to rate people entering the US to assess the risk they pose and soon to be a subject of an inquiry by the House of Representatives committee on homeland security.

Sarah Ludford, a UK Liberal MEP, said she was not satisfied with Commission responses that PNR data was not used in ATS.

Franco Frattini, commissioner for justice, freedom and security, told Parliament last week that informal discussions on the SWIFT transfers had begun to try to establish safeguards. He said he would also be pushing for a reduction to the 34 pieces of information the US currently receives under the PNR deal. "I will ask for a reduction in the number of these items," he said.

The Council of Ministers is to give the Commission a new negotiating mandate, in the coming weeks, to conclude the PNR agreement.

MEPs are soon to meet members of the US Congress for a discussion on civil liberties concerns arising from security co-operation between the EU and the US.