Welcoming a European Parliament vote to suspend the EU-US agreement which regulates US access to data from the SWIFT database, GUE/NGL MEP Kyriacos Triantaphyllides said the result was a positive first step towards full termination of the agreement.

"Today we send a message for the suspension of the EU-US TFTP agreement in a resolution that includes the GUE/NGL position and reflects what we've been saying from day one" he said after the vote.

"Even before Edward Snowden's revelations about US spying, this agreement had shown that our right to privacy is not fully respected but traded away in the name of the US so-called fight against terrorism. Now it is evident that this agreement allows for bulk data transfers in a totally non-transparent manner for reasons going way beyond what was agreed anyway and that's why it should be immediately terminated."

The GUE/NGL had been opposed to the weak SWIFT agreement since its inception as it never provided sufficient guarantees for European citizens' fundamental rights.

Cornelia Ernst said it was "high time MEPs responded to the scandal confirmed by Edward Snowden's revelations".

"This agreement, which deals with details of nearly all European bank transfers, was then shown to be nothing but a Potemkin village to hide the NSA's total disdain for the privacy of EU citizens. What we want is, of course, termination of the pact, but suspension is a useful first step in that direction" Ernst said.