The vote of the European Parliament against the temporary SWIFT agreement today is historic. For the first time under the Lisbon Treaty that the Parliament has voted against an agreement of the Council and the Commission. Apart from the unsatisfactory content of the agreement, the main reason for the rejection was the fact that he European Council did not meet the guarantees President Buzek asked for in his letters to the Presidency of the Council. Buzek sent these letters on the initiative of ALDE-leader Guy Verhofstadt supported by all political groups in the Parliament.

The late and weak response of the Council was very disappointing as it did not guarantee European standards on protection of data privacy.  Precisely because the fight against terrorism is so important,  the Parliament wants to achieve a better, long-term agreement to balance security and fundamental rights of the European citizens. This vote proves that the European Parliament will use its new powers to full effect  provided by the Lisbon Treaty.

The European Council meanwhile, meeting today in Brussels for the first time as an official EU institution, under the new Lisbon Treaty, is unlikely to recommend the radical overhaul of economic governance in the European Union that is needed.

Guy Verhofstadt, Liberal and Democrat group leader in the European Parliament pointed out that the problems afflicting Greece at the moment, and threatening other countries of the eurozone, are symptomatic of the refusal to produce a common economic policy across Europe:

"The markets have been hovering over Greece this week like vultures over a carcass, waiting for the eurozone's weakest link to be sacrificed. This is a crucial test for the credibility of the single currency area. Today's meeting must not only approve bold measures to rescue the Greek economy but rethink the whole strategy for rebuilding Europe's flagging economy."

"The Lisbon Strategy of the past 10 years, characterised by peer review and weak coordination of national economic policies has failed miserably to deliver the promise of making Europe "the most competitive, knowledge-based economy in the world."

"What we need from EU leaders now is a firm commitment to strong compliance mechanisms that will ensure Member States take the necessary measures - just as Greece has to do now if it is to receive loans or financial support from other eurozone partners. We are all in the same boat and we will all sink or float together."

"The European Commission must be at the heart of the new strategy, as the guarantor of the Community interest - not the European Council which represents the views of Member States. I would firmly oppose an attempt by Member States to take over this task. This would be a retrograde step to intergovernmentalism. They will have no appetite to sanction themselves for failure to act."

"If the new Europe 2020 strategy will not meet the minimal standards Europe now needs, the European Parliament will not doubt to use its power again, as we did with SWIFT.”