PORTUGAL: INFORMATION-SHARING AND DATA PRIVACY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LISBON 000075 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR S/CT PAUL SCHULTZ STATE ALSO PASS TO EUR/ERA ALESSANDRO NARDI STATE ALSO PASS TO L/LEI KEN PROPP STATE ALSO PASS TO A/GIS/IPS/PRV CHARLENE THOMAS STATE ALSO PASS TO USEU/ECON LORELEI SNYDER DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FOR TOM BURROWS AND MARY LEE WARREN DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY FOR MIKE SCARDAVILLE AND JOHN KROPF DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY FOR JULIA YOO AND CARLTON GREEN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER KTFN KCRM KHLS ECPS ECON PREL KPAO KTIA CON, EUN, PO SUBJECT: PORTUGAL: INFORMATION-SHARING AND DATA PRIVACY ISSUES REF: STATE 8403 LISBON 00000075 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) Consul General and Poleconoff delivered reftel points in early February to Goncalo Teles Gomes, Portugal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Chief for North America, Regina Quelhas de Lima, MFA Director for Justice Affairs in the European Directorate, Joao Manuel Ribeiro, Ministry of Justice (MOJ) Director for International Relations, and Carla Encarnacao, Ministry of Interior (MOI) Chief of International Relations and Cooperation. ¶2. (SBU) Teles Gomes told us February 19 that the GOP interagency was close to reaching consensus on a Homeland Security Presidential Directive 6 (HSPD-6) and would soon submit a counterproposal. He stated that while the MFA and the MOI had already signed off on the proposal, the MOJ was still reviewing it. Post notes that the GOP itself requested that the HSPD-6 be discussed at the annual U.S./Portugal Bilateral Commission Meeting in January in Washington and that Ambassador Nuno Brito, MFA's Director General for Foreign Policy, who headed the Portuguese delegation, committed to providing a counterproposal soon. Teles Gomes underscored that Portugal had already signed a Preventing and Combating Crime Agreement with the U.S. in June 2009. ¶3. (SBU) Regarding the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program (TFTP) and Passenger Name Record (PNR) data, Teles Gomes noted that these two programs were being handled through the EU. He assured us that our views would be given proper consideration in GOP discussions in Brussels. ¶4. (U) Separately, Ribeiro sent us a formal response to the non-paper February 23 stating that the Ministry of Justice was working on the HSPD-6 and reiterating its willingness "to work in a constructive manner with the other EU member-states . . . on issues deemed necessary to prevent and combat terrorism at the international level." ¶5. (SBU) COMMENT: Of the two bilateral information-sharing programs discussed in the demarche, Portugal has signed one (PCC) and is close to submitting a proposal on the other (HSPD-6). The other programs covered by the demarche -- TFTP and PNR -- are being handled through the EU and we expect Portugal to make good on its pledge to work with other EU member states to prevent and combat terrorism at the international level. END COMMENT. ¶6. (U) An unofficial translation of Ribeiro's letter follows: Begin Text: Thank you for the document on information-sharing and data privacy issues, which is also associated with the more general issue of the prevention and combat of terrorism. This document was analyzed by the International Relations Division of the D/G for Justice Policy (GRI/DGPJ). Data privacy is a sensitive matter, to which the EU and its member nations, including Portugal, dedicate special attention, particularly due to constitutional issues such as citizens' rights, liberties, and privileges. The implementation of the 12 common principles in a future international agreement between the U.S. and the EU may be the means to reaching the desired consensus on this issue and to eliminating some of the concerns that still exist regarding the processing and use of private data, thereby facilitating the sharing of police and counterterrorism (intelligence) data. However, in a global framework of preventing and combating terrorism, information sharing and cooperation among nations assumes a fundamental role. It is in this perspective that Portugal is also committed and an example of this is the ongoing negotiation with the U.S. to sign a bilateral agreement on sharing data on terrorist suspects. Likewise, the signing of an agreement between the U.S. and the EU regarding the transfer of financial data "SWIFT" is also a fundamental part in this general framework, as it has LISBON 00000075 002.2 OF 002 been demonstrated that a small amount of money is enough to prepare and carry out international-level terrorist activities. Such an agreement is particularly important to prevent and combat this type of crime by assuring the shared use of relevant information, which may allow the competent authorities - be they the financial data units or the criminal investigation teams - to better carry out their respective duties. Within the framework of technical/judicial negotiations, under which the GRI/DGPJ falls, Portugal (through the Justice Ministry) will not fail to take into consideration the importance of the current work of the EU regarding transatlantic dialogue and the signing of agreements with the U.S. Portugal affirms its availability to work in a constructive manner with the other EU member states to draw up a new long-term agreement on SWIFT matters and on other issues which may be deemed necessary to prevent and combat terrorism at the international level. End Text. For more reporting from Embassy Lisbon and information about Portugal, please see our Intelink site: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/portal:port ugal BALLARD