US upbeat about anti-terror data accord with EU (AP) – NIMBRUNG.NET

MADRID – U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday he is confident an accord will be reached shortly with the European Union to relaunch a Bush-era data-sharing program the U.S. considers key to anti-terror investigations.

Holder said he and other U.S. officials would listen to the EU allies’ concerns about the accord’s effect on civil liberties during a one-day EU-U.S. ministerial meeting in Madrid on Friday focusing on counterterrorism cooperation.

“One of our goals during these meetings will be to outline the extensive privacy safeguards that we have put in place to govern the TFTP, Holder told reporters in Madrid, referring to the Terrorist Financing Tracking Program. “I’m actually confident that in a relatively short period of time the program will be up.”

Holder was to meet with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Justice Minister Francisco Caamano and Interior chief Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba later Thursday.

On Friday, he will meet with the EU officials along with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and U.S. Treasury Department officials. Vice President and EU Commissioner for Justice Vivian Reding and EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmstrom also will be there.

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