VZCZCXRO5833
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSL RUEHSR RUEHVK
RUEHYG
DE RUEHLI #0371 1941302
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 131302Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY LISBON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7739
RUEHDHS/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DOJ WASHDC
INFO RUEHPD/AMCONSUL PONTA DELGADA 0613
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS LISBON 000371 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/WE; L/CA; L/LT; CA/P/IP 
DHS for OIA/Visa Waiver Program Office 
DOJ for OIA: Thomas Burrows 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CVIS CMGT PREL PTER PO
SUBJECT: U.S. and Portugal sign criminal information sharing 
agreement 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: In Lisbon, Portugal on June 30, Department of 
Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano signed an 
agreement with Portugal on Preventing and Combating Crime (PCC). 
The GOP Ministers of Interior Affairs (MOI) and Justice (MOJ) both 
signed the agreement for Portugal, with Foreign Minister Jorge Amado 
acting as host.  The USG initially proposed this agreement (under 
the name "Preventing and Combating Serious Crime") to the GOP in 
2008 as part of enhanced security arrangements mandated by the 9/11 
Act for Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries.  (Note: Portugal became 
the 12th EU member state and 13th country to have signed such an 
agreement with the U.S.  End Note)  The public signing ceremony 
occurred at the Portuguese Foreign Ministry after a roundtable 
meeting between the U.S. and the three GOP ministers.  A brief press 
conference followed the signing.  END SUMMARY 
¶2. (SBU) At the meeting preceding the signing, FM Amado emphasized 
the importance of the transatlantic relationship.  Portugal believes 
in strong bilateral cooperation with the U.S., as evidenced by the 
conclusion of this PCC agreement, he said.  At the same time, 
Portugal's European Union (EU) membership is fundamental and the 
U.S. can count on Portugal to support a strong transatlantic 
relationship within the EU, he said.  Secretary Napolitano responded 
affirming the strong bilateral relationship and thanking Portugal 
for helping to resolve the issue of resettling Guantanamo detainees. 
 Concerning the EU, Secretary Napolitano agreed and stressed the 
U.S. also sought partnership and meaningful information exchange 
with the EU. 
¶3. (SBU) MOI Rui Pereira noted that since 9/11 Portugal had approved 
new counterterrorism laws and reinforced the security of its 
personal identification documents, such as by introducing electronic 
passports and national identity cards and by automating the entry of 
passengers at Portuguese international airports.  Secretary 
Napolitano mentioned she hopes the GOP will also conclude 
negotiations with the U.S. (Note: under HSPD-6 End Note) to exchange 
terrorist screening information. 
¶4. (SBU) MOJ Alberto Costa mentioned the early June signing by 
Secretary Clinton and FM Amado of the extradition and mutual legal 
assistance treaties between the U.S. and Portugal in Washington as 
an additional example of useful recent progress.  He also emphasized 
the difficulty in negotiating this PCC agreement where Portugal had 
to juggle strict EU and Portuguese protections for personal data 
privacy with the need to enhance cooperation with the U.S. to fight 
criminal and terrorist activity.  He said that this PCC agreement 
balances and meets those requirements.  (Note: Members of the 
Portuguese delegation noted that the U.S. having signed similar 
agreements with Italy in May and Spain earlier in June had eased 
Portuguese approval. End Note)  He also noted that Parliamentary 
approval of the agreement would be required but should not be a 
problem citing the recent success of the extradition treaty and the 
pro-U.S. attitude among the majority of Portuguese. 
¶5. (SBU) FM Amado concluded the meeting by saying that competing 
themes of justice and security must be reconciled and cited the 
example of the US-EU joint declaration on Guantanamo as another 
example of this, in addition to the PCC agreement. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) COMMENT: The GOP noted Secretary Napolitano was the first 
cabinet member of the Obama administration to visit Portugal.  The 
tone of the meeting was very positive and the mood upbeat.  Both 
sides were clearly very happy that the PCC agreement had been 
concluded, literally only hours before Secretary Napolitano's 
arrival.  Foreign Minister Amado was instrumental behind the scenes 
in pressing Justice Minister Costa at the last minute to overcome 
traditional MOJ concerns about privacy laws and the use of personal 
data.  Amado was more cautious on progress on the HSPD-6 agreement, 
telling Embassy Consul General after the meeting that progress on 
this matter would be more difficult than on the PCC given political 
concerns and greater data privacy issues.  Nonetheless, we have been 
advised that the MFA has completed its work on the GOP response to 
the USG's HSPD-6 proposal and the ball is now in the MOI's and MOJ's 
court.  We've also been told that no movement on this can be 
expected before national elections in late September. END COMMENT 
¶7. (SBU) The DHS Delegation has cleared this cable. 
BALLARD