Future anti-terrorism cooperation between the European Union and the US hung in the balance today, after the European Parliament rejected a controversial deal that would have let the two sides of the Atlantic share banking data, according to dpa. Under the so-called SWIFT agreement, the United States could collect EU citizens' banking data for anti-terrorism investigations, and then provide EU governments with intelligence on suspicious movements. A nine-month interim version of the deal came into force on February 1, but EU deputies in Strasbourg decided to annul it by a wide margin, with 378 votes in favour, 196 against and 31 abstentions. "Let's enjoy this historic moment," said parliament vice-president Libor Roucek, who presided over the vote. Deputies were incensed that EU governments concluded the SWIFT deal on November 30, just a day before a new EU treaty gave them an increased say on the matter, and shared its contents with MEPs on January 26, just five working days before the agreement came into force. In addition, the coalition who rejected the deal - socialists, liberals, greens and left-wingers, plus renegade German and Austrian conservatives - thought data protection safeguards were insufficient, and were unimpressed by EU governments' pledges to involve parliament in talks over a permanent SWIFT deal, due to start in the coming weeks.
