Parliament exerts its democratic power on US data deal

Posted by Bronwen Maher on February 11, 2010 at 01:30 PM

Speaking today in Strasbourg after helping vote down a bad EU-US deal which would have transferred in-bulk European citizens' bank data to Washington, Nessa Childers MEP has said: "If the US took the European Parliament for granted in the past, they will not do so again. Given new powers under the Lisbon Treaty, the Parliament is now one of the most powerful democratic institutions in the world, directly representing nearly half a billion citizens and must be respected.
 
"At the end of last year, European Governments made a mistake believing it would be possible to force the Parliament to give its consent on a bad agreement based more on the US approach to security than on the EU's defence of citizens' fundamental rights.
 
"My opposition has always been driven towards improving the current agreement. I now expect the US and EU Governments to come to terms with the determination of the Parliament and I call on the EU Commission to immediately start negotiations on a better long term data deal.
 
"On data retention periods, bulk transfers of data, and EU citizens' rights to legal redress, the Parliament had made clear its red lines.
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"We are all fully committed to the fight against terrorism, but our response has to be more targeted and proportionate than this. I hope a better agreement for essential financial data sharing can be concluded as soon as possible."

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