Following the NSA scandal, Europe pushes back against surveillance

Nov 27, 2013 08:05 GMT  ·  By
The US needs to abide European laws when it comes to surveillance if it wants its cooperation
   The US needs to abide European laws when it comes to surveillance if it wants its cooperation

The European Union has had enough of the United States’ spying. Viviane Redding, who has been negotiating with the US on the issues, is threatening to freeze the crucial data-sharing arrangements unless they comply with the EU’s wishes.

The European Union’s justice and rights commissioner said that the United States would have to adjust their surveillance practices to comply with laws within the European Union and to enable legal redress in the US courts for European citizens whose rights may have been infringed, the Guardian reports.

Unfortunately, there is little that can be done against the American’s main ally – the GCHQ, the British intelligence services. Given the fact that secret services inside the European Union are on strict remit of national governments, Brussels can’t do anything.

“I have direct competence in law enforcement but not in secret services. That remains with the member states. In general, secret services are national,” the commissioner said.

As mentioned, the European Union is threatening to freeze the data-sharing agreements it has with the United States. This concerns commercial swaps between companies, as well as information aimed at suppressing international terrorist funding, as well as information on transatlantic air passengers.

The data exchange between the European Union and the United States’ judicial and police forces is also at risk.

“The question has arisen whether the large-scale collection and processing of personal information under US surveillance programmes is necessary and proportionate to meet the interests of national security… EU citizens do not enjoy the same rights and procedural safeguards as Americans,” Redding said, who admits that the Snowden disclosures have been a wake-up call for the European Union.

Over the past several months it has been revealed that the NSA has spied on European Union diplomats, embassies, as well as collected data from a number of countries, including France, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and more. Furthermore, it was revealed that Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has been on the NSA’s list for years, as her phone was listened to.