The conservative grouping in the European parliament is set to reject a planned agreement with the US on sharing bank transfer data, one of its senior members warned Thursday. The so-called SWIFT agreement between the European Union and US goes before a crucial committee vote next week.
The SWIFT agreement is seen as crucial by US authorities to conduct anti-terrorism investigations, especially since the December 25 failed bomb plot on a Detroit-bound plane raised terror alerts in the US and the European Union.
But Werner Langen, head of the German delegation within the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) group, warned that “a relatively large coalition” can be rustled up within the EU parliament to torpedo the agreement.
Langen’s faction is the largest in the parliament, accounting for 265 of the legislature’s 736.
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