DHS SECRETARY NAPOLITANO'S NOVEMBER 6 MEETING WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 001633

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (TEXT REF AND PARA 6)

SIPDIS

STATE PASS EUR/WE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2019
TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV KTFN KHLS KISL BE EU
SUBJECT: DHS SECRETARY NAPOLITANO'S NOVEMBER 6 MEETING WITH
BELGIAN MINISTER OF INTERIOR TURTLEBOOM

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Classified By: Ambassador Howard Gutman for reasons 1.4 (B) and
(D).


1. (C) Summary: DHS Secretary Napolitano met November 6 with
Belgian Minister of Interior Annemie Turtelboom to promote
information sharing and security. The Secretary stressed the
importance of finding a solution for the Swift Terrorist
Finance Tracking Program (TFTP) issue prior to December 1.
She also raised the Visa Waiver Program's Preventing and
Combating Serious Crime (PCSC) agreement. Minister
Turtelboom acknowledged the importance of cooperating on
security issues while maintaining individual rights.
Turtelboom said the TFTP portfolio was not one of her
competencies and said her government would soon be discussing
the issue in the Core Cabinet. She promised to share with
her government that U.S. access to the Swift data is a
crucial asset in combating terrorism. Minister Turtelboom
suggested closer U.S. cooperation in other areas, such as
exchanging law enforcement and identity theft data.
Turtelboom noted that Belgium had H1N1 under control, and
Secretary Napolitano shared that the U.S. was expecting a
very serious flu season. Looking ahead to the Belgian EU
Presidency, Minister Turtelboom said Belgium would make
improved internal law enforcement cooperation and
anti-radicalization priorities during its presidency from
July to December 2010. End Summary.

Delegation
--------------


2. (C) Secretary Napolitano met with GOB Minister of Interior
Annemie Turtelboom on November 6, 2009. Other U.S. officials
present included Ambassador Howard Gutman, DHS Undersecretary
for National Protection and Programs Rand Beers, DHS Chief of
Staff Noah Kroloff, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public
Affairs Sean Smith, DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for
International Affairs Mark Koumans, DHS Chief Privacy Officer
Mary Ellen Callahan, DHS Attach to the EU and NATO Jackie
Bednarz, Embassy Brussels Political-Economic Counselor
Richard Eason, and Embassy Brussels Political-Economic
Officer Aaron Jensen. Turtelboom's staff were MOI Secretary
General Monique De Knop, Chief of Federal Police Fernand
Koekelberg, Director General of the Crisis Center Jaak Raes,
Director of OCAM/OCAD (Threat Analysis Center),Deputy Chief
of Staff Isabelle Mazzara, Advisor for Police Affairs Herman
Bliki, and Advisor for International Relations Dominique
Laurent.

SWIFT (TFTP)
--------------


3. (C) Secretary Napolitano focused primarily on Swift. She
noted the value of the data, said the ability to track
financial transactions was key to combating international
terrorism, and said the U.S. did not want to lose access to
the TFTP data. MOI Turtelboom said TFTP was the competency
of the Ministry of Justice, but shared that the TFTP issue
had been discussed in the government and would be on the
agenda of the Core Cabinet in the next few weeks. She added
that data privacy discussions were difficult in Belgium,
which has a special Privacy Commission and a Parliament that
is very protective of its citizens privacy. She said
Parliament was especially conservative in allowing foreign
countries access to its citizens' personal information.


4. (C) DHS Napolitano asked the Minister to share two points
for consideration with her government. She underscored the
high priority the USG puts on investigating financial
transactions for counterterrorism. She then praised the
program's careful administration and explained that there
have been no complaints of breaches of privacy in the
program's history. Secretary Napolitano described an
independent audit of Swift data by a French judge who
determined the program functioned appropriately by adhering
to agreed privacy safeguards. She also noted that foreigners
may seek redress for breaches of personal data privacy in
U.S. courts. The Secretary noted that Belgium and the U.S.
work so well together on many issues that we cannot allow
SWIFT to come between us.


5. (C) Minister Turtelboom suggested that other types of data
exchange would be helpful to Belgian police. She noted that

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specific information exchange was easier for Belgium to
accept than providing more general access to information in a
database. Secretary Napolitano underscored TFTP targets
specific terrorists and does not simply provide wholesale
access to European data, as some European media have
asserted. Ambassador Gutman highlighted the short time frame
for resolving the Swift problem. He pointed out that this
data was not only important for the United States, but also
for Spain, Britain, and France. He said Swift was, "not only
for safety on U.S. soil, but for the planet." Minister
Turtelboom said that she believed the Ministry of Justice was
looking for a juridical, practical, and Belgian solution to
the TFTP issue.

Other Information Sharing Agreements
--------------


6. (C) Secretary Napolitano raised the two agreements that
form part of the enhanced security cooperation required for
Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries: the HSPD-6 agreement
for terrorism information sharing and the Preventing and
Combating Serious Crime (PCSC) agreement, modeled on the EU's
Prum Agreement, to share criminal data. Secretary Napolitano
urged Belgian conclusion of both agreements and added that
the United States hoped for a PCSC signing before the end of
December. Minister Turtelboom said the HSPD-6 agreement with
the Terrorist Screening Center was further along, but added
it was not a competence of her ministry. Concerning the
PCSC, previously transmitted to Belgium, Turtelboom
was unfamiliar with its progress, but urged her staff to look
into it (NOTE: DHS subsequently provided her staff with the
text. The Belgian MFA leads the negotiations. END NOTE).


7. (C) Secretary Napolitano mentioned the High Level Contact
Groups' agreement on sixteen principles of data privacy and
the efforts to reach a binding U.S. - EU data sharing
agreement. Minister Turtelboom noted the EU Prum Treaty was
a difficult topic in parliament, though the GOB had agreed to
its provisions. Her Deputy Chief of Staff Isabelle Mazzara
clarified that the PCSC model, either offering information
voluntarily or the hit, no-hit method followed by judicial
cooperation when hits, exist was more palatable to lawmakers.
She said the parliament was very difficult on the DNA and
fingerprint aspects of the Prum Treaty, and added that if
Europeans were able to find a solution, then a solution with
the U.S. on data privacy could be achievable.

U.S. - Belgian Cooperation and H1N1
--------------


8. (C) Minister Turtelboom emphasized the success of U.S. -
Belgian law enforcement cooperation. She said the Belgian
police liaison officer at the Belgian Embassy in Washington
is proving useful and noted the good coordination on threat
analysis. She asked for more identity theft information
exchange, mentioning FTC, Sentinel, or another identity
database the U.S. uses. Minister Turtelboom proudly reported
that the number of H1N1 cases were no longer increasing
rapidly, and that the GOB was able to deal with the flu
season without much impact on society and the economy. The
Minister explained that Belgium had begun a vaccination
campaign. Secretary Napolitano shared that the U.S. was hard
hit and forecasted that young people would be negatively
affected by H1N1 as the regular flu season begins. The
Secretary added that the mortality rate of H1N1 and regular
flu is not appreciably different.

E.U. Presidency Goals
--------------


9. (C) Minister Turtelboom offered several goals Belgium was
considering setting as priorities during its EU Presidency.
She said community policing and better cooperation between
member states, particularly at the local level is important.
She said detecting and preventing radicalization of minority
populations would be a major focus. Secretary Napolitano
responded that countering radicalization was important work.
She acknowledged that different methods are used in different
countries, and added that a global approach was important,
noting that working together we ought to be able to help
prevent young people from being radicalized.


10. (U) The DHS delegation has cleared this cable.

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GUTMAN