[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 42, Number 39 (Monday, October 2, 2006)]
[Pages 1677-1678]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Senate Transmitting the United States-European Union 
Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance

September 27, 2006

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

[[Page 1678]]

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 information 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.

Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
September 28. An original was not available for verification of the 
content of this message.