Allegations the U.S. monitored e-communications of millions of...

a Council of Europe meeting in Brussels. Government leaders had a “comprehensive” debate on privacy, in which they informed each other about possible U.S. eavesdropping and voiced concern about what that means for Europeans, said Merkel. The EU-U.S. partnership needs mutual trust and respect, she said. France and Germany decided to take the lead in negotiating a framework for the cooperation of their respective intelligence services with the U.S., she said. Asked whether she expects an apology from the U.S. for allegedly tapping her mobile phone, Merkel said the most important thing at this point is to find a path for the future. European “trust has been severely shaken” and must be rebuilt, she said. There are some behaviors and practices “that cannot be accepted,” said Hollande. He called for a code of good conduct for European intelligence services, and for French and German discussions with the U.S. to arrive at the truth about what happened and a common future path by year’s end. European governments are aware that intelligence and security services must be fully involved with each other to deal with security threats, but fundamental rights must also be safeguarded, he said. France has already asked the U.S. for access to the documents some media organizations have seen, he said. In their conclusions (http://bit.ly/1gLz2qJ), all council members cited the “deep concerns” possible intelligence issues have raised among European citizens. They “underlined the close relationship between Europe and the USA and the value of that partnership,” but said the relationship “must be based on respect and trust, including as concerns the work and cooperation of secret services.” Council members stressed that intelligence gathering is vital to the fight against terrorism, but that “a lack of trust could prejudice the necessary cooperation in the field of intelligence gathering.” They also called for “rapid and constructive progress” in the existing EU-U.S. Working group on the related issue of data protection. In his statement after the first session of the council powwow, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said, “The revelations over recent months and days have shaken trust in privacy and data security.” The EU will keep pushing for adoption of proposed data protection legislation, he said. On the meeting’s main topic, the digital economy, innovation and services, the council cited an “urgent need for an integrated single digital and telecoms markets” that benefits consumers and companies. As part of its growth strategy, Europe must boost digital, data-driven innovation across all sectors, it said. The conclusions called for investing in the digital economy by accelerating deployment of new technologies such as 4G and maintaining technology neutrality. Legislative measures to reduce the cost of broadband rollout should be adopted rapidly, it said. Europe also needs to be at the forefront of big data and cloud computing, council members said. They urged that a strong network of national digital coordinators be created to encourage cloud, big data and open data development. Officials also want to promote a consumer- and business-friendly digital single market. “No efforts should be spared to accelerate work on the pending legislative proposals,” particularly on e-identification and trust services, e-invoicing and payment services, the Council said. Timely adoption of data protection reform and the cybersecurity directive is essential to complete the digital single market by 2015, it said. Officials also pushed for concrete steps to address the growing lack of digital skills and for more investment in research and innovation. The European Telecommunications Network Operators’ Association said Friday it “fully shares the sense of urgency” conveyed by the council’s call to accelerate key initiatives of the digital agenda, and appreciated governments’ vision in seeking an EU strategy on cloud computing and big data.