VZCZCXRO0041
PP RUEHAG RUEHROV RUEHSL RUEHSR
DE RUEHMD #0199/01 0531730
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 221730Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1986
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA PRIORITY 4393
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY

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