European Parliament recommendations for dealing with U.S. mass...
European Parliament recommendations for dealing with U.S. mass surveillance can’t be allowed to simply “evaporate” when a new legislature is elected in May, member (MEP) Claude Moraes, of the Socialists and Democrats and the U.K., said Thursday. He presented the…
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final version of his resolution (bit.ly/1e58zU1) on spying to general preliminary approval by the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (LIBE). The document recognized the magnitude of the revelations and their ongoing nature, and pushed for “forward planning” to ensure there are specific proposals on the table for follow-up in the next session. It called for a “European digital habeas corpus” to protect privacy based on seven actions: (1) Adopt the data protection revamp package this year. (2) Finalize the EU-U.S. umbrella agreement on data protection with provisions allowing redress for Europeans whose data has been transferred to the U.S. for law enforcement purposes. (3) Suspend the safe harbor agreement allowing data transfers to the U.S. pending a full review. (4) Suspend the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program until the umbrella agreement has been concluded and all problems raised by the parliamentary enquiry have been addressed. (5) Protect the rule of law and Europeans’ rights with a focus on threats to press freedom and better whistleblower safeguards. (6) Develop a European strategy for information technology independence. (7) Develop the EU as a reference player for democratic, neutral Internet governance. The report sets a proposed timetable for monitoring implementation to try to keep the findings high on the EU political agenda. “We want to look to the future,” Moraes said. The report is an “excellent, very comprehensive package” whose recommendations should be adopted as this Parliament’s legacy to the next, said MEP Sophie in ’t Veld, of the Alliance for Liberals and Democrats in Europe and the Netherlands. However, she said, the issue of enforcement is also important. Europe has good data protection rules in place which national authorities and the European Commission should be much stricter in enforcing, she said. The next parliament should be given the authority to conduct full enquiries, including subpoena power, she said. Moraes’ report is “one of the most important” in this legislative session, said MEP Cornelia Ernst, Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left and Germany. The question now is what parliament’s priorities will be, she said. Legislators must ask whether they have gotten to the heart of the matter and what happens next with the report, she said. Parliament needs stronger powers to be able to make a difference, she said. Proposed amendments from LIBE members are due Jan. 22.