Brussels, 26/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - Between 16-19 March last during a visit to Washington, MEPs at the EP's Civil Liberties Committee attempted to put pressure on the Justice Department and the Congress, in an effort to speed up measures that will enable Europeans to lodge appeals at US courts in the event of inappropriate treatment of their personal data, according to an explanation by the EP in a press release published on Thursday 26 March.
Jan Philipp Albrecht (Greens/EFA, Germany), the vice-president of the Civil Liberties Committee and rapporteur on the transatlantic data sharing framework agreement, said: “Our many meetings with senior government officials and members of the Congress demonstrated that there is a willingness on all sides to obtain equal treatment for EU citizens and the US during transatlantic information exchanges”. He also explained that the translation of these commitments “into legal acts as soon as possible, is of crucial importance when it comes to restoring citizens' trust, as well as for improving transatlantic information exchanges, particularly for security reasons”.
The German MEP explained that the aim of the Civil Liberties Committee mission to Washington DC was to obtain up-to-date information on the state of progress in the US on “these major questions, such as data protection and ongoing legislative work at the US Congress framing surveillance activities. MEPs also examined European data protection reform and the initiatives for tackling terrorism, including the PNR project”.
In June 2014, the US government made a commitment to provide valid appeals channels for Europeans but only as part of the Patriot Act and not within the context of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is not part of the transatlantic agreement being discussed.
In February, as part of a follow-up report on the resolution adopted in 2014 on action taken by the US NSA, the LIBE Committee expressed its regret in the delays affecting the practical application of the US commitments at a legal level (see EUROPE 11261). MEPs working in the field also used this visit to ask the Minister for Trade to exclude personal data from the scope of the TTIP. (Solenn Paulic)