Brussels, 04/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - As announced before the summer break, the European Parliament civil liberties committee will, on Thursday 5 September, begin its round of hearings, seeking to assess the impact on Europeans of the different espionage programmes conducted by the NSA (US National Security Agency). Last July in Strasbourg, the European Parliament ratified a mandate in this connection.
With revelations continuing during the summer with regard to how US services have spied both on internet users and on some of their international partners, the EP civil liberties committee will seek to shed as much light as possible on these activities, working with national parliaments and the transatlantic experts group set up by the EU and US. A report will be drafted by the end of the year and will focus on possible recourse for Europeans who have been spied upon, can take. It will also include a number of recommendations to help prevent similar cases arising in the future. The MEPs' will also examine ways of enhancing the security of the computer systems of EU institutions, bodies and agencies.
In the meantime, MEPs will begin hearing the main protagonists involved in the scandal, starting with the journalists who reported these activities. The hearings schedule will also include a teleconference with Guardian journalist, Glenn Greenwald, who broke the story on the NSA and whose partner was also arrested in August by the British authorities. Jacques Follorou from the newspaper, Le Monde, has also been invited to take part in the hearing. The EP will also be listening to experts, such as its former espionage specialists Carlos Coehlo (EPP, Portugal) and former MEP Gerhard Schmid, who led the investigation into another espionage scandal, Echelon, which broke in 2001. The committee is then expected to bring a number of senior US and European interception programme specialists.
In a joint press release, the EDRi (European Digital Rights) and FREE (Fundamental Rights European Experts Group) called for both European and US leaders to implement clear rules regarding online surveillance. These groups are particularly keen for the main protagonists in this matter to suspend the so-called Safe Harbour agreement, which Commissioner Viviane Reding intends to reassess. In an analysis drafted by the expert, Douwe Korff, the NGO, FREE, also highlighted the need to provide Europeans with the means to take action in the US. It also outlines how these practices should comply with existing provisions, such as European texts on the matter and the Council of Europe's Convention on Human Rights.
In a press release, British Conservative, Timothy Kirkhope (ECR), called on his counterparts at the civil liberties committee to show restraint and to stay calm. He regretted what he described as the “anti-American” tone that has dominated initial debates on the affair. (SP/transl.fl)