REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL On the joint review of the implementation of the Agreement between the European Union and the United States of America on the processing and transfer of Financial Messaging Data from the European Union to the United States for the purposes of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program
Date: 2014-08-11
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: United States, agreement (EU), bilateral agreement, disclosure of information, exchange of information, financial services, financing, terrorism













EUR-Lex - 52014PC0513 - EN











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52014PC0513

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL On the joint review of the implementation of the Agreement between the European Union and the United States of America on the processing and transfer of Financial Messaging Data from the European Union to the United States for the purposes of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program /* COM/2014/0513 final */









REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL
On
the joint review of the implementation of the Agreement between the European
Union and the United States of America on the processing and transfer of
Financial Messaging Data from the European Union to the United States for the
purposes of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program
The
Agreement between the European Union and the United States of America on the
processing and transfer of Financial Messaging Data from the European Union to
the United States for the purposes of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program
('TFTP') entered into force on 1 August 2010[1].
Procedural
aspects
Article
13 of the Agreement provides for regular joint reviews of the safeguards,
controls, and reciprocity provisions to be conducted by review teams from the
European Union and the United States, including the European Commission, the
U.S. Treasury Department, and representatives of two data protection
authorities from EU Member States, and may also include security and data
protection experts and persons with judicial experience.  
The
first joint review of the Agreement conducted in February 2011[2]
covered the period of the first six months after the entry into force of the
Agreement (1 August 2010 until 31 January 2011) and the second joint review
conducted in October 2012[3]
covered the subsequent period of twenty months (1 February 2011 until 30
September 2012). On 27 November 2013 the Commission adopted the Communication
on the Joint Report from the Commission and the U.S. Treasury Department
regarding the value of TFTP Provided Data pursuant to Article 6 (6) of the
Agreement[4].
This
third joint review covers a period of seventeen months (1 October 2012 until 28
February 2014). In line with Article 13 (3), for the purposes of the review,
the European Union was represented by the European Commission, and the United States was represented by the U.S. Treasury Department. The EU review team was
headed by a senior Commission official and in total consisted of three members
of Commission staff and representatives of two data protection authorities, one
of whom was also the team's judicial expert. 
As
to its schedule, the third joint review was carried out in two main steps: on 1
April 2014 in The Hague at Europol's premises and on 8 and 9 April 2014 in Washington at the U.S. Treasury Department (hereinafter “the Treasury”). 
This
report is based on the information contained in the written replies that the
Treasury provided to the EU questionnaire sent prior to the review, information
obtained from the discussions with Treasury personnel as well as information
contained in other publicly available Treasury documents. In addition,
information provided by Europol staff during the review was used and the
inspection report of Europol's Joint Supervisory Body (JSB) from March 2013 was
considered. To complete the information available to it, the Commission also
met and received information from the Designated Provider.
Recommendations
and conclusion
The
TFTP remains an important instrument to provide timely, accurate and reliable
information about activities associated with suspected acts of terrorist
planning and financing. It helps to identify and track terrorists and their
support networks worldwide. 
The
Commission welcomes the increased transparency of the U.S. authorities in sharing information illustrating the value of the TFTP for
international counter-terrorism efforts. The detailed information about how the
TFTP Provided Data can and is being used and various concrete cases thereof
provided in the Joint Value Report and in the context of this review constitute
a considerable step forward in further explaining the functioning and the added
value of the TFTP.
On
the basis of the information and explanations received from the Treasury,
Europol, the Designated Provider and the independent overseers, verification of
relevant documents and of a representative sample of the searches run on the
TFTP provided data, the Commission is satisfied that the Agreement and its
safeguards and controls are properly implemented and that the findings of the
second joint review have been followed up by the Treasury. 
Europol
is accomplishing its verification tasks in full compliance with Article 4 on
the basis of detailed and regularly updated supporting documentation received
from the Treasury. The oversight mechanism is functioning smoothly and is
effective in ensuring that the processing of data complies with the conditions
laid down in Article 5. All non-extracted data is deleted on a semi-annual
basis in order to ensure that all non-extracted data is deleted at the latest
five years from receipt. Treasury's regular evaluation of the extracted data
includes an assessment of the data retention periods. The relevant information
about the process of rectification of data has been included on the Treasury's
website.
The
Commission suggests that the Member States consider providing regular feedback
on the TFTP data received from the Treasury which could further improve the
quality and the quantity of information exchanged under Articles 9 and 10. The
Commission encourages Europol to continue its efforts to actively promote
awareness of the TFTP and to support Member States seeking its advice and
experience in devising Article 10 requests. 
It
is important that Europol continues fulfilling its verification role under
Article 4 as thoroughly and independently as at present. The Commission will
continue discussion on the interpretation of Article 15 concerning the right of
access in light of the actual responses Treasury will provide in the future.
Finally the Commission recommends that the Treasury continues to assess the
necessity of the extracted data in the sense of Article 6 (7) of the Agreement.
In
the context of the review the Treasury confirmed in writing the validity of the
assurances given during the 2013 consultations. It stated that since the TFTP
Agreement entered into force in August 2010, the U.S. Government – including
all departments and agencies – has not collected financial payment messages
from the Designated Provider in the European Union, except as authorized by the
TFTP Agreement. The Treasury also stated that, during that time, the U.S.
Government has not served any subpoenas on the Designated Provider in the EU or
on the Designated Provider in the United States requesting the production of
data stored in the EU, except as authorized by Article 4 of the TFTP Agreement.
The Treasury also confirmed that the United States has remained and intends to
remain in full compliance with all of its commitments under the TFTP Agreement.
A
regular review of the Agreement is essential to ensure its proper
implementation, to build up a relationship of trust between the contracting
parties and to provide reassurances to interested stakeholders on the usefulness
of the TFTP instrument. It has been agreed between the Commission and the
Treasury to carry out the next joint review according to Article 13 of the
Agreement in the second half of 2015.
The
functioning of the Agreement, the joint review process, its outcome and
recommendations are described in detail in the Staff Working Document attached to
this Report. 
[1] OJ L 195/5 of 27.7. 2010
[2] SEC(2011) 438 final
[3] SWD(2012) 454 final
[4] COM (2013) 843 final of 27.11.2013