During today's plenary debate on SWIFT, the ALDE group criticised the Council approach in negotiating the new EU-US agreement once again behind closed doors and carefully avoiding any form of meaningful parliamentary involvement.  

Sophie In't Veld (D66, NL) speaking on behalf of the ALDE group said "It is unacceptable that once again the European and national parliaments, representing citizens' interests, are bypassed and being denied a transparent and democratic process."

"Why is there a sudden rush?" - queried In't Veld. The new architecture of SWIFT was decided in 2007. Why did Council wait until summer 2009 to seek a deal with the US?   Furthermore, there are serious question marks over the legal base for the negotiations. "The Council appears to be creating a whole new area of EU competence via a back door, including a new agency with very unclear powers." She added:" The documents must be released to the public, not just to MEPs in a secured room. It is really absurd that public authorities from third countries get to see every detail of our bank accounts, but we citizens are not allowed access to the key documents. It flies in the face of everything Europe stands for. Finally, ALDE calls for the long overdue assessment of the efficiency and results of the package of counter terrorism measures taken since 2001."

Sharon Bowles (LibDem, UK), Chairwoman of the Committee for Economic and Monetary Affairs added: "One should remember that payment platforms are fundamental to our economy. It is absolutely essential that there is legal certainty in any agreement reached, so that the platforms concerned do not face the prospect of destabilising lawsuits."

"Furthermore, conclusion of the deal must be made conditional upon maintaining the conditions which exist in the Memorandum of Understanding which SWIFT previously concluded with the United States Treasury Department, which narrowed the amount of data transferred and the ways in which it could be used."