[JURIST] European Union [official website] officials said Tuesday that the EU has reached an agreement [press release] with the US to allow EU transnational organized crime-fighting body Eurojust [official website] and US prosecutors to share information about investigations on terrorism and cross-border criminal cases. The EU and and US are expected to formally sign the agreement on November 6. Human rights groups, however, have already expressed worries about privacy protections in light of other recent deals.

Earlier this month, EU and US representatives signed a separate data sharing agreement [JURIST report] allowing the EU and US to exchange air passenger data for transatlantic flights after an initial agreement was struck down on privacy grounds in May by the European Court of Justice. That interim agreement is slated to expire in July 2007, giving time for EU and US officials to form a more extensive data sharing program [JURIST report] and resolve any lingering privacy concerns. Reuters has more.