EPP focuses on 'new' political ideas

In his speech, Busuttil gave an account of the EPP's parliamentary work in the areas of civil liberties, justice and home affairs focusing on the recent adoption of an agreement between the EU and the US on the exchange of data from (Swift) banking transactions for the purposes of tracking terrorist financing.

“Whereas the EPP had a strong political line in favour of the protection of citizens’ security, ultimately this line could only reap results if it was translated into a majority of votes in the European Parliament,” Busuttil said. 

On the Swift Agreement, Busuttil said that the work on achieving a compromise among political groups in the European Parliament took nine months and had to overcome one failed attempt when an interim agreement was rejected in Parliament in February.

“The main concerns that had to be overcome included a deep-seated anti-Americanism in many political groups in Parliament, the internal power-struggle among EU institutions upon the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and most importantly, serious concerns on citizen’s privacy,” Busuttil said. 

These obstacles were overcome after long negotiations which included several sessions and even a parliamentary mission to the US Treasury in Washington. In During this mission Busuttil had insisted that the agreement should envisage the appointment by the European Commission of an official to be based in Washington to monitor the implementation of the agreement and to ensure that private data transferred from the EU would only be used for its intended purpose.

The agreement was eventually adopted by a large majority in the European Parliament last July and entered into effect in August. In its first week of operation, the US authorities submitted requests for the transfer of data and returned back to Europe important leads about possible security threats in Europe.