Brussels, 30/09/2010 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission announced on Thursday 30 September that it had decided to refer the United Kingdom to the EU Court of Justice for not fully implementing EU rules on the confidentiality of electronic communications, such as e-mail or internet browsing. Specifically, the Commission considers that UK law does not comply with EU rules in three areas: 1) there is no independent national authority to supervise the interception of some communications, although the establishment of such authority is required under the ePrivacy and Data Protection Directives, in particular to hear complaints regarding interception of communications; 2) current UK law authorises interception of communications not only where the persons concerned have consented to interception but also when the person intercepting the communications has “reasonable grounds for believing” that consent to do so has been given; these UK provisions do not comply with EU rules defining consent as “freely given, specific and informed indication of a person's wishes”; 3) current UK law prohibiting and providing sanctions in case of unlawful interception is limited to “intentional” interception only, whereas EU law requires members states to prohibit and to ensure sanctions against any unlawful interception regardless of whether committed intentionally or not. The Commission opened the procedure in April 2009 following complaints from UK citizens (see EUROPE 9881) and, in October 2009, asked the UK to amend its rules. The UK has not done so. (I.L./transl.rt)