Brussels, 28/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 26 October, the European Commission called on Germany and Romania to fully transpose the 2006 European directive on data retention within two months. The directive may, however, soon be amended. The directive, which authorises telephone and internet operators to store data on their customers for the purpose of combating terrorism and crime, is a particularly sensitive issue in these two countries, especially since their constitutional courts rejected the first provisions to be transposed considering them to be disproportionate in some respects, as stated by the German court in March 2010.
The Commission states in a press release that there is a problem: “Since the judgments of their constitutional courts, which annulled the respective national laws that transposed the data retention directive, Germany and Romania have not indicated how and when they will adopt new legislation.” The Commission therefore sent them a reasoned opinion on Thursday, pointing out that this delay is detrimental to the overall fight against crime in the EU.
On 17 June this year, the Commission had sent a letter of formal notice to Germany and Romania on the subject. Germany replied in August, announcing its new transposition project upheld by the Ministry of Justice and specifying that the text was the subject of inter-ministerial discussion. Romania replied in a similar way, the Commission states. However, since then, the Commission has not been informed of any further developments and is today calling on both countries to provide a detailed timetable for transposition. (SP/transl.jl)