ENGAGING SPAIN ON INFORMATION-SHARING AND DATA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MADRID 000199

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/WE (STACIE ZERDECKI, ALEX MCKNIGHT),
EUR/ERA (ALESSANDRO NARDI),L/LEI (KEN PROPP),S/CT (PAUL
SCHULTZ) AND A/GIS/IPS/PRV CHARLENE THOMAS
FOR USEU (MARY LEE WARREN, JACIE BEDNARZ, LORELEI SNYDER)
PASS TO DHS (MARK KOUMANS, MIKE SCARDAVILLE, JOHN KROPF)
PASS TO DOJ (TOM BURROWS)
PASS TO TREASURY (JULIA YOO, CARLTON GREENE)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/11/2020
TAGS: PTER KTFN KCRM KHLS ECPS ECON PREL KPAO SP
SUBJECT: ENGAGING SPAIN ON INFORMATION-SHARING AND DATA
PRIVACY ISSUES

REF: A. SECSTATE 08403

B. MADRID 190

C. MADRID 49

D. 09 MADRID 1127

MADRID 00000199 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: DCM Arnold A. Chacon for reasons 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY AND COMMENT: Post, joined by visiting VIP
delegations such as DHS Secretary Napolitano, CODEL Cardin,
and the U.S. delegation to the US-EU Informal Senior
Officials Meeting (SOM) on Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)
issues, has engaged extensively with officials from the
Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior and Justice on the
importance of US-EU information-sharing on counter-terrorism
and anti-crime initiatives while emphasizing the USG's
adequate protection of personal data privacy. The Ambassador
personally engaged 1st VP Fernandez de la Vega, Minister of
Interior Rubalcaba, and SYG of the Presidency Leon in advance
of the European Parliament (EP) vote on the Terrorist Finance
Tracking Program (TFTP). Post views its Spanish
interlocutors as committed allies on these issues, although
the Spanish constantly remind us that data privacy must be
respected in enhanced cooperation. Post also has helped
secure ample media coverage for the USG's position on such
matters during those VIP visits. As requested by Ref A, this
cable highlights Post's efforts. Embassy POC is POLOFF Hugh
Clifton, Tel. (34) 91-587-2294, fax (34) 91-587-2391. END
SUMMARY AND COMMENT.

//CODEL Cardin Engages On Next Steps re TFTP//


2. (C) CODEL Cardin (see Septel) on February 16 discussed the
importance of information-sharing and data protection with
Interior Minister Rubalcaba, who in response outlined the
next steps that he recommends taking following the EP's
rejection of the interim TFTP agreement on February 11.
Rubalcaba told the CODEL that the EP's "No" vote should be
interpreted in the context of growing complacency on the part
of Europe because it has been some time since Europe suffered
a high-profile terrorist attack. Nevertheless, he said that
he is in favor of taking a risk by trying to move forward on
the issue. Rubalcaba made the case to the CODEL that he
could not argue before the EP - as he did in last-minute
lobbying on February 10 for the TFTP's passage - that the
agreement was important for the shared security of member
states and then wait another year to try something new after
it was voted down. He said that things quickly need to be
attempted in a different way and that he will meet Cecilia
Malmstrom, the new Home Affairs Commissioner, during the week
of February 22 to present this general strategy. He
acknowledged, however, that it will likely remain "very
problematic" to secure the EP's agreement. The key, he
argued, would be to secure the support, or at least the
abstention, of the German MEPs.

//DHS Secretary Addresses JHA Ministers at Toledo JHA
Informal Ministerial//


3. (C) As reported in Ref B, DHS Secretary Napolitano on
January 21 delivered a speech on aviation security to the EU
JHA informal ministerial, which responded with a broad
consensus on the international nature of need for improved
aviation security and US-EU cooperation. In her address to
the plenary, Secretary Napolitano emphasized that terrorism
is a global threat that requires a multinational response and
that access to one airport can endanger the entire
international airport system. The Secretary reviewed the
facts of the December 25 Detroit case, shared lessons learned
from the subsequent Presidential Review, and outlined four
areas of focus: 1) information collection and analysis; 2)
information sharing and collaboration in passenger vetting;
3) international security standards, including coordination
of international assistance to help all countries achieve
those standards; and 4) development and deployment of next
generation aviation security technologies. She also had
bilateral meetings with Rubalcaba and Justice Minister
Caamano. Days before the Secretary's arrival, Ambassador

MADRID 00000199 002.2 OF 002


Solomont held a meeting with Rubalcaba in which the
Ambassador raised information-sharing and data-protection to
highlight the importance the USG places on the issue. (Ref
C).


4. (C) Virtually all of the key senior-level players within
the Spanish MOJ, MFA and MOI heard Sec. Napolitano's January
21 plenary address. The following officials act as their
respective ministries' point person on enhanced
information-sharing and data protection: Arturo Avello, the
MOI's DG (A/S-levl) for International Affairs at the MOI,
Aurora Mejia, the MOJ's DG for International Judicial
Cooperation, and Fernando Alvargonzalez, the MFA's
Ambassador-at-Large for JHA Issues. Mejia attended the
Secretary's bilateral meeting with Caamano later that same
day. Another key Spanish contact who attended the plenary is
Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar, Chair of the EP's Civil
Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee. Looking
ahead, both Avello and Alvargonzalez are on the Steering
Committee to implement the U.S.-EU declaration on aviation
security that came out of the informal ministerial in Toledo,
with an eye toward creating deliverables for the U.S.-EU
Troika Ministerial during April 8-9. (Ref B)

//State, Justice and DHS Make U.S. Case at U.S.-EU JHA SOM//


5. (C) Deputy Assistant Attorney General Bruce Swartz and INL
DAS Elizabeth Verville, who co-led the U.S. delegation to the
U.S.-EU JHA senior official meeting (SOM) held in Madrid
during January 11-12, drove home the USG's message regarding
information-sharing and data protection. On behalf of
Spain's role as rotating EU President, Mejia, Avello, and
Alvargonzalez co-chaired the meeting and echoed the U.S.
delegation's stated interest in receiving a negotiating
mandate from the European Commission "as soon as possible" -
optimally, before the April 8-9 Troika Ministerial - to reach
an over-arching, binding agreement on U.S.-EU
information-sharing and data protection.

//Secretary Napolitano at Data Protection Conference//


6. (C) As noted in Ref D, Sec. Napolitano on November 4 spoke
with Rubalcaba in Madrid about information-sharing and data
protection and they both addressed the 31st annual
International Conference on Data Protection and Privacy
Commissioners (IDPC),hosted by Artemi Rallo, Director of the
Spanish Data Protection Agency. In a private meeting with
Rubalcaba, the Secretary acknowledged that increased
data-sharing between the U.S. and EU will be a hard sell, but
they agreed that public security and personal privacy are not
mutually exclusive concepts and confirmed their commitment to
work toward a bilateral data-sharing agreement which could
then be crafted in a broader context for a US-EU agreement.
At the conference, the Secretary cited a success story in
which information-sharing promotes public safety. Also
during this visit, the Secretary also had an informal
conversation at the conference with Lopez Aguilar in which
she disagreed with his assertion that the U.S. Privacy Act of
1974 does not allow non-U.S. citizens to bring their concerns
to U.S. courts. She cited this example as a misconception
regarding U.S. privacy standards that the USG will have to
dispel. Ref D also discusses domestic political concerns in
Spain regarding data privacy.
SOLOMONT