Europe to give US access to bank data for terror probes - by Laurent Thomet

Europe agreed Thursday to let the United States tap into banking data for terrorism probes again, reviving a programme which officials said would save lives and protect the privacy of Europeans.

The United States will again have access to the banking information from August 1 after European MPs voted 484-109 in favour of a new five-year deal they say provides privacy safeguards.

The new agreement is a victory for the parliament, which used powers it gained under the European Union's Lisbon Treaty to block an initial deal in February because of fears over privacy. European Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Maelstrom, who negotiated the new deal, said any failure to conclude an agreement "could have had negative repercussions for EU-US cooperation in the security area and more broadly."

Note EU-Digest: now the deal is done one can only hope complete details of the agreement will be disclosed.

For more: AFP: Europe to give US access to bank data for terror probes