16/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - Data retention. As expected, at a meeting of EU27 interior ministers in Brussels on Thursday 13 May, the United Kingdom and Slovakia commented that they appreciated the EU data protection directive negotiated during its presidency of the EU as a useful tool to clamp down on crime and terrorism. A source reports that in a brief debate on the Commission's 18 April progress report, both countries expressed doubt about the need to change the directive, arguing that the constitutional problems caused by the directive in some were due to improper introduction of the directive into their legal systems rather than the directive itself. Germany has called for more detailed debate about the report, which sets out genuine problems vis-à-vis the respect of fundamental rights. (S.P./transl.fl)