For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 28, 2006
Message to the Senate of the United States
TO THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES:
With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to
ratification, I transmit herewith the Agreement on Mutual Legal
Assistance between the United States of America and the European Union
(EU), signed on June 25, 2003, at Washington, together with 25 bilateral
instruments that subsequently were signed between the United States and
each European Union Member State in order to implement the Agreement
with the EU, and an explanatory note that is an integral part of the
Agreement. I also transmit, for the information of the Senate, the
report of the Department of State with respect to the Agreement and
bilateral instruments.
A parallel agreement with the European Union on extradition,
together with bilateral instruments, will be transmitted to the Senate
separately. These two agreements are the first law enforcement
agreements concluded between the United States and the European Union.
Together they serve to modernize and expand in important respects the
law enforcement relationships between the United States and the 25 EU
Member States, as well as formalize and strengthen the institutional
framework for law enforcement relations between the United States and
the European Union itself.
The U.S.-EU Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement contains several
innovations that should prove of value to U.S. prosecutors and
investigators, including in counterterrorism cases. The Agreement
creates an improved mechanism for obtaining bank infor-mation from an EU
Member State, elaborates legal frameworks for the use of new techniques
such as joint investigative teams, and establishes a comprehensive and
uniform framework for limitations on the use of personal and other data.
The Agreement includes a non-derogation provision making clear that it
is without prejudice to the ability of the United States or an EU Member
State to refuse assistance where doing so would prejudice its
sovereignty, security, public, or other essential interests.
I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to
the Agreement and bilateral instruments.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
September 27, 2006.
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