EU won't part with bank data

James Kanter

BRUSSELS: The European Parliament broadly rejected an agreement with the United States on sharing information about bank transfers that was aimed at  tracking people suspected of being terrorists.

The vote on Thursday underlined differences between the US and the EU over how to balance personal privacy guarantees with concerns on national and international security.

The agreement, rejected 378 to 196 with 31 abstentions, would have freed the US from having to seek bank data on a country-by-country basis. It went into effect provisionally at the start of February and was to last nine months while a more permanent arrangement was sought.

But many members of the parliament complained that the agreement had failed to guarantee the privacy rights of European citizens.

Underscoring the importance of the agreement to the US, secretary of state Hillary Clinton had promised to cooperate with the parliament in negotiating the long-term accord. American and European leaders had warned that rejecting the accord would leave a security gap. Some legislators said use of the Swift data had already made it possible to thwart attacks.