No Data Without Protection? Re-Thinking Transatlantic Information Exchange for Law Enforcement Purposes After Lisbon

In the area of Justice and Home Affairs, the issue of data protection has generated significant controversy in the framework of the EU's external relations. More specifically, the USA and the EU have developed particularly close ties in counter-terrorism cooperation under the umbrella of the New Transatlantic Agenda and the sharing and protection of information holds a central place in the transatlantic security relationship. The challenge posed to the Passenger Name Record (PNR) agreement before the European Court of Justice and the European Parliament's rejection of the interim SWIFT agreement provide a good example of the concerns which arise with regard to data privacy on one side of the Atlantic and of the way this tension affects transatlantic cooperation in the area of counterterrorism action. The Treaty of Lisbon came into force at a time when the EU-US PNR and SWIFT agreements were pending ratification, and shortly after the adoption of the Stockholm Programme by the Council. Against this background, this contribution explores the extent to which the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon is likely to affect current and future transatlantic agreements in the area of information exchange for law enforcement purposes, namely the EU-US PNR, SWIFT and data protection agreements. It also explores the ways in which this impact translates in the transatlantic security agenda.