EU police report shows holes in US data deal

EUobserver writes that US demands for EU banking data under the so-called Swift agreement are "too general and abstract" for Europol to allow a proper evaluation of the necessity of those transfers, an inspection report carried out by the police agency's own supervisory body reveals.

Read more here: http://euobserver.com/9/31947/?rk=1

US told EU to hide ACTA from public

According to euractiv.com, American officials blocked European attempts to publish the latest draft of the global Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) on an EU website after a Washington-based round of negotiations in August.


The European Commission, which has been feeling the heat from lobby groups and the European Parliament for greater transparency in the negotiations, debriefed MEPs on the August negotiations yesterday (1 September).


MEPs have been demanding to see the full negotiating text as they will be asked to give ACTA their consent in a vote later this year.

"If we want to be leaders in the EU on transparency, we really have to put more pressure on our partners to have more transparency," an Austrian Green MEP told EurActiv.

Read the full article here: http://www.euractiv.com/en/infosociety/us-told-eu-hide-acta-public-news-497373

EU/US Bank data transfer deal reached

EUobserver.com reports today that EU justice ministers approved a provisional bank data transfer deal with the United States, allowing American anti-terrorist investigators to access European financial transaction data for another nine months.

The interim agreement had sparked controversy among European Greens and Liberals, who cited data privacy concerns and slammed member states for "rushing" to get the deal done before the European Parliament acquires more powers in this field. A day later, with the coming into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the legislature would have had a bigger say on the agreement.

Read the entire story here: http://euobserver.com/9/29072/?rk=1