Brussels, 22/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - Set up following the revelations of the US National Security Agency's espionage that potentially targeted Europeans, the group of transatlantic experts on data protection met for the first time on Monday 22 July in Brussels. The group will continue its work on Tuesday.
Officially, the idea of this working group is to inform Europeans about the consequences for citizens' data of programmes such as PRISM, involving all the US internet giants, and the impact of such arrangements on European data protection rules, which are in the process of being reviewed (see EUROPE 10892). Informally, this working group is also the opportunity to stock take on the national surveillance programmes that the member states use - with some countries having clearly wanted aspects of the file, which relate to the national interest - like intelligence activities - to be dealt with strictly as part of bilateral trade with the US and not necessarily placed in the public arena. Two procedures were endorsed last week at the level of national ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) - procedures involving the data protection group and the holding of discussions, on an ad hoc basis, at Coreper on cooperation between member states regarding intelligence.
On the European side, the group was expected to comprise the Presidency of the Council of the EU, the European Commission, the European External Action Service (EEAS), a representative from the Article 29 group bringing together national authorities in charge of data protection, representatives from around ten member states, and EU anti-terrorism coordinator Gilles de Kerchove. On the US side, “around a dozen people” were expected, a source indicates, coming from the US departments of justice and homeland security. This highly sensitive meeting was due to be held in a high security room at DG Home, the department responsible for this at the Commission.
From the initial exchanges, the opportunity to arrange fresh meetings will be assessed, with no meeting dates having yet been arranged.
Following the espionage on Europeans, data protection is an extremely sensitive subject in the EU, especially in Germany. Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is election campaigning, is in favour of an international data protection agreement, just like the Kyoto protocol on climate change. “That must be our objective”, she told Wie am Sonntag.
The European Parliament's S&D Group has sent a delegation to the US to investigate the American espionage practices, S&D leader Hannes Swoboda, stated in a press release on Monday. (SP/transl.fl)