From: Ad 

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/04/05/transatlantic_police/

Slowly slowly boil the frog.

"Europe and the US have begun to lay the foundations for a data
sharing link between their police and immigration forces.

It's a long way off, but indications after talks in Berlin today between
European and US negotiators are that both sides are in agreement that's
where they are headed.

"Our common goals are clear," Franco Frattini, vice president of
the European Commission and head of the justice directorate, said in a
written statement.

The idea was to protect citizens and the means was to give police
authorities the information they needed to do it.

"We must closely coordinate our efforts, share information and
cooperate on law enforcement as much as possible," he said.

Frattini, along with Wolfgang Sch„uble, federal minister of the interior
for the German presidency of the EU, and representatives of the upcoming
Portuguese presidency, reached an agreement with a US team led by Michael
Chertoff, the wording of which they have not published.

They reached an agreement on "counter-terrorism cooperation",
which they have yet to publish.

They made "progress" in talks to form a common data protection
policy, though they were unable to say what progress had been made. They
also discussed, again with no reference to why it was any of Chertoff's
business, "EU policy in the field of criminal law""

Adam

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