EU heads for spy showdown

BRUSSELS: EU lawmakers will seek a response from US administration and intelligence officials next week to accusations of widespread spying on EU citizens and governments, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Members of the European parliament’s civil liberties committee will fly to Washington on Monday for the talks and explore “possible legal remedies for EU citizens” resulting from the alleged surveillance, the committee said yesterday.

Berlin is sending a separate delegation of staff from Merkel’s office and top intelligence officials to the US for talks, a German government spokesman said yesterday.

Merkel demanded on Thursday that the US strike a “nospying” agreement with Germany and France by the end of the year, following accusations the US National Security Agency (NSA) accessed tens of thousands of French phone records and monitored Merkel’s private mobile phone.

The European parliament has already opened an inquiry into the effect on Europe of US intelligence activities revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. It has also led a push for tougher data protection rules and the suspension of a transatlantic datasharing deal.

Merkel said in Brussels on Thursday that alleged espionage against two of Washington’s closest EU allies, Germany and France, had to be stopped and she wanted action from President Barack Obama, not just apologetic words.

The European parliament, with 766 members directly elected from the EU’s 28 member states, voted this week in favour of an amended package of laws that would greatly strengthen EU data protection rules that date from 1995.

The rules would restrict how data collected in Europe is shared with non-EU countries, and impose fines on rule breakers. – Reuters