EU commission to propose new SWIFT mandate "as swiftly as possible"

The European Union's justice commissioner said Wednesday that she is to ask member states as soon as possible for permission to negotiate a new deal with the United States on sharing bank-transfer data in order to fight terrorism, DPA reported.

EU member states in November 2009 approved a deal giving the US access to the so-called SWIFT database until the end of October this year, but the European Parliament shot it down in February, arguing that it failed to ensure EU citizens' rights.

"I will propose a new mandate. I am now looking at the possibilities in dialogue with our American partners, and I will present that ... taking into consideration the concerns of the European Parliament," Cecilia Malmstrom told journalists in Brussels.

"I don't have an exact timetable for this, but of course we want to do this as swiftly as possible," she punned.

EU justice and interior ministers are set to meet in Brussels on Thursday, and Malmstrom is expected to brief them on a number of issues, including SWIFT.

The late deal gave the US anti-terror authorities access to information on international bank transfers carried out under the worldwide SWIFT system, after the system's servers were moved to Europe at the end of 2009.

The deal had been set to run until the end of October, to give the EU and the US time to negotiate a permanent data-sharing agreement.

The parliament rejected it on February 11, saying that the interim deal did not protect EU citizens' privacy. EU and US governments alike criticised the decision, saying that it left a dangerous gap in the fight against terrorism.

Some European analysts also warned that the US would be likely to react by ignoring the EU and cutting deals with Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands, where SWIFT has its main operations and servers.

"I hope the US will continue to follow the European route," Malmstrom said.