EU, U.S. to share data on suspects

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- European Union nations approved an agreement with the United States on Thursday authorizing the exchange of personal data on suspects in terrorism and other serious criminal cases.

The deal will allow American investigators and their counterparts at the European police agency, Europol, to share personal information such as phone records and bank accounts.

Danish Justice Minister Lene Espersen said the deal will be signed with the United States on Friday in the Danish capital, Copenhagen.

Negotiations to intensify trans-Atlantic cooperation in crime-fighting have intensified since the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, with the emphasis on counterterrorism.

Meeting EU officials Wednesday in Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the new agreement "will authorize the full exchange of information between Europol and U.S. law enforcement agencies."

U.S. negotiators see the data exchange as crucial to bolstering the fight against international terrorist groups such as al-Qaida, whose network stretches worldwide.

They have sought to allay European fears the information could be misused.

Critics have expressed particular concern that European citizens would not be informed about their personal data being transferred to the United States. They are also worried about the range of U.S. agencies that may have access to sensitive information.

The United States already has bilateral information exchange arrangements with several of the 15 EU nations.

The new arrangement should speed up investigations by enabling American agencies to deal directly with Europol, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands. It coordinates the work of police investigators in EU nations.

"We are together in fighting terrorism, and also the European Union is glad that we now can have this U.S.-Europol agreement," Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said at Wednesday's meeting with Powell in Washington.

EU ministers also discussed ways to make it easier to extradite serious crime suspects to the United States, but no agreement was expected.

The United States has resisted European demands for a guarantee that extradited suspects will not risk the death penalty, which has been abolished in EU nations.