Brussels, 26/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 26 June, the commissioner for fundamental rights, Viviane Reding, announced that she had written to British Foreign Secretary William Hague to ask him for explanations by the end of the week on the scope of the “Tempora” programme whereby, according to revelations in the Guardian, the British intelligence services have access to transatlantic fibre optic cables used to send telephone and internet communications. Secret agreements concluded with cable operators then allow MI6 to share its data with its American counterparts, the British daily newspaper claims. Reding is therefore asking Hague for explanations as to the purposes of the programme (national security or a broader scope?), which citizens are targeted, Britons only or EU-wide, and possibilities for redress. On Tuesday, Berlin already demanded explanations from London on the degree of surveillance of German citizens and the legal basis for the mechanism. (SP/transl.fl)