Brussels, 27/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - The EU's 1995 data protection directive is being revised by the European Commission under the leadership of European Commissioner Viviane Reding. In a speech about Europe given in Brussels on Thursday, British politician Kenneth Clarke said Europe was about to make bad and dangerous choices. Addressing the British Chamber of Commerce in Brussels, the minister warned of the dangers of unusefully normative rules, explaining in a press release that it is for Member States to decide how and when to process people's personal information, particularly in connection with the fight against terrorism and serious crime. He said regulations should be avoided that are so concerned with data protection that they fail to recognise the damage that can be caused by failing to share information or not processing data properly. Clarke added that introducing an inflexible, comprehensive data protection scheme across the whole of the EU without taking account of the specifics of different cultures and legal systems would be extremely dangerous. Viviane Reding's circles see this speech as a contribution to the current debate, pointing out that now that the Lisbon Treaty has come into force, the Commission is entitled to consider extending general data protection rules to police cooperation and judicial cooperation in penal issues. On 16 March 2011, Viviane Reding said that restrictions of data protection rights should comply with the general rules and be clearly defined and proportionate. She said this would be an important part of the changes to the rules. (S.P./transl.fl)