Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-11-25-Speech-3-029"
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"en.20091125.6.3-029"2
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"Mr President, there was this concrete issue on SWIFT and I want to clarify the position on that matter because I think it is extremely important. It also has to do with the Stockholm Programme.
So, this system has already saved many lives in Europe and elsewhere. We are talking about an extremely serious matter. I fully agree that the whole fight against terrorism has to be done in the full respect of fundamental rights and guarantees of our open, free societies. We were the first in the world to say to President Bush that he needed to close Guantánamo – we Europeans. And we stand by it. At the same time, we have to see to it that we stay united and committed to the fight against terrorism.
That is why I want to give you all the assurance that we will present to you a new mandate on the basis of the new Treaty of Lisbon, precisely for addressing this issue, where the European Parliament will have its full powers.
So, in early 2010, we will come with a new basis respecting the Lisbon Treaty that will, of course, give Parliament all the capacity to act in this matter because we want Parliament to also be at the forefront of this action against terrorism and for security, by fully respecting, of course, our fundamental rights and our legal guarantees.
Finally, since so many of you spoke – and I thank you for your comments – on the issue of gender balance, which is so important for me, for the Commission and for the European institutions, let me signal the fact that today is the 10th anniversary of the international day for the elimination of violence against women. I think this is an agenda where we also have to do something in Europe. Unfortunately, there are still many cases in Europe where women are affected by attacks by their male companions or former companions. I want to use this opportunity to show our commitment to this very important agenda which is also in our European society.
The SWIFT Programme is, indeed, a very valuable instrument for Member States in their fight against terrorism. It has allowed Member States’ authorities to prevent terrorist attacks in Europe. We are not talking about theoretical cases. We are talking about actual cases.
The draft European Union-United States agreement, which is currently being discussed, is an interim arrangement with a maximum duration of 12 months. It is needed in order to legally replace the existing one after the move of the data storage out of the United States.
If the interim agreement is adopted before 1 December and the legal basis is changed, it will avoid a security gap and a serious blow to European Union-United States relations in this area.
In the recent meeting we had, involving the European Union and President Obama, the first issue he raised was the cooperation on the fight against terrorism between the United States and Europe. He gave us the names of concrete countries in Europe that escaped terrorist attacks recently because of the cooperation in this matter between us and them.
I can give you some data on that, if you wish. More than 5 450 cases under the Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme have been passed to date to European governments, with over 100 new generated leads provided to European countries from January to September this year.
I can give you concrete examples. This information has provided substantial assistance to European governments during the investigation into the al-Qaeda-directed plot to attack transatlantic airline flights travelling between the UK and the United States.
In mid-September 2009, three individuals were convicted, and each was sentenced to at least 30 years in prison. In early 2009, this system was used to identify the financial activity of a Europe-based al-Qaeda individual who played a role in the planning of an alleged attack on aircraft. The information was passed to the governments of European and Middle Eastern nations.
In summer 2007, the same system was used to identify the financial activities of Germany-based members of the Islamic Jihad Union. This information contributed to the investigation and eventual arrest of Islamic Jihad Union members who were plotting to attack sites in Germany. They subsequently confessed to these activities."@en1
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