The commission is asking EU leaders to authorise new talks after parliament rejected the previous so-called SWIFT deal amid concerns that it posed a threat to privacy. MEPs also expressed their desire to be consulted more during the negotiating process.

Cecilia Malmström, the new commissioner for home affairs, says she will press for stronger privacy safeguards and make sure parliament is informed at all stages of the talks.

The future agreement should also be reciprocal, so that the US would have to provide similar banking data if the EU decides to set up its own programme for tracking funds supporting terror groups.

“Terrorism remains among the main threats that EU security has to face and we need to put in place tools that are up to the task, allowing for effective international cooperation,” she said.

SWIFT stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, a messaging network used by some 8000 banks and financial institutions worldwide. The SWIFT database records millions of international bank transfers every day.

The US uses information stored in the database to track suspected terrorists through their finances. The data may include information such as the name, address and national ID numbers of people on both ends of a financial transaction.

Until recently, SWIFT had its data servers on US soil, where they fell under US jurisdiction. But at the end of last year, the servers covering European transactions were moved to Europe, forcing the US to seek European consent for continued access to the data.

Citing concerns about security in the absence of a deal, the commission is looking to complete the negotiations this summer.

Information gleaned from the data helped European investigators track down suspects in the 2006 al-Qaeda-directed plot to blow up flights between the EU and the United States.

The data also helped identify financial transactions involving a Europe-based suspect in an alleged plot to attack an aircraft early last year.