News From Washington
Statement by the President on the U.S.-European Union Agreement on the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program
July 8, 2010
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
The United States welcomes today's decision by the European Parliament
to
join the Council and Commission of the European Union in approving a
revised
agreement between the United States and the European Union on the
processing and transfer of financial messaging data for the
Terrorist
Finance Tracking Program (TFTP). We look forward to the
Council's
completion of the process, allowing the agreement to enter
into force
on August 1, 2010, thus fully restoring this important
counterterrorism
tool and resuming the sharing of investigative data
that has been
suspended since January 2010. The threat of terrorism
faced by the
United States and the European Union continues and, with
this
agreement, all of our citizens will be safer.
The TFTP has provided critical investigative leads -- more than 1,550 to
EU
Member States -- since its creation after the September 11, 2001
terrorist
attacks. These leads have aided countries around the world in
preventing
or investigating many of the past decade's most visible and
violent
terrorist attacks and attempted attacks, including Bali (2002),
Madrid
(2004), London (2005), the liquids bomb plot against
transatlantic
aircraft (2006), New York's John F. Kennedy airport
(2007), Germany
(2007), Mumbai (2008), and Jakarta (2009).
This new, legally binding agreement reflects significant additional data
privacy
safeguards but still retains the effectiveness and integrity of
this
indispensable counterterrorism program.
Protecting privacy and civil liberties is a top priority of the Obama
Administration.
We are determined to protect citizens of all nations
while also
upholding fundamental rights, using every legitimate tool
available
to combat terrorism that is consistent with our laws and
principles.