The European Commission expects “swift and concrete answers”...

meeting in Dublin. Respect for fundamental rights and the rule of law form the basis of the EU-U.S. relationship, Reding wrote. “This common understanding has been, and must remain, the basis of cooperation between us in the area of Justice,” she said. In that context, the EC has already questioned the scope of laws such as the Patriot Act, which can lead to European companies being forced to hand over data to the U.S. in breach of EU and national law, she said. The U.S. should, to the greatest extent possible, use already agreed-upon formal channels of cooperation such as mutual legal assistance agreements to exchange data for crime prevention and investigation, she said. Giving U.S. law enforcement authorities direct access to information on EU citizens on servers of U.S. companies “should be excluded unless in clearly defined, exceptional and judicially reviewable situations,” she said. Programs such as Prism could undermine the trust of Europeans in the Safe Harbor system now under review, she said. Reding asked Holder to clarify: (1) Whether Prism, similar programs and the laws under which such programs may be authorized are aimed only at the data of citizens and residents of the U.S. or also, even primarily, at non-U.S. individuals. (2) Whether access to and collection of data under Prism is authorized in specific and individual cases and, if so, under what criteria. (3) Whether individuals’ data are accessed, collected or processed in bulk regularly or occasionally. (4) Whether the scope of Prism and similar programs is restricted to national security or foreign intelligence or broader. (5) What judicial or administrative avenues are available to EU citizens to be informed of whether they're affected by Prism or other programs, and how those avenues compare to what’s available to U.S. citizens. (6) What mechanisms are available to companies in the U.S. or EU to challenge access to data. (7) How EU citizens or companies can challenge access to personal data under Prism and how those compare to mechanisms available to U.S. citizens and residents. “Given the gravity of the situation and the serious concerns expressed in public opinion on this side of the Atlantic, you will understand that I will expect swift and concrete answers to these questions on Friday 14 June,” Reding said. The EC is accountable to the European Parliament, “which is likely to assess the overall trans-Atlantic relationship in the light of your responses,” she wrote. Data protection is top of the list of agenda items for Friday’s ministerial meeting, a Thursday EC memo said. The EU and U.S. are negotiating a personal data protection agreement in the context of fighting terrorism and crime that aims to ensure strong safeguards for information such as passenger or financial data transferred through a trans-Atlantic cooperation, it said. The EC will stress again that the pact should set enforceable rights for people whose data are being exchanged for law enforcement purposes and treat U.S. and EU citizens equally, it said.