Brussels, 04/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - Tough discussions are anticipated between the European Commission and the Council of the EU on the retention of personal data.
According to the justice minister of Luxembourg, Félix Braz, the vast majority of member states took position in favour of a “European solution” and hence a new legislative proposal, he explained on Thursday 3 December after the meeting of the European justice ministers.
These countries, he explained, are in favour of asking the Commission to resuscitate the directive which was overturned in 2014 by the European Court of Justice, on the grounds that it seriously breached the fundamental rights (see EUROPE 11056). Readers may recall that this directive allowed telecommunications operators to store the telephone data of their clients for between 6 and 24 months, so that account information could be used for the purposes of prevention or investigations into terrorism and organised crime.
Other member states prefer to wait for the cases underway before the national courts to reach their conclusions before taking position on the need for a new text.
Speaking on behalf of her counterpart Dimitris Avramopoulos, who is responsible for the dossier, the European Justice Commissioner, Vera Jourova, said that the Commission had absolutely no intention of submitting a further proposal, but that it would continue to monitor how the member states are adapting to the cancellation of the 2006 directive.
“We do not have agreement on this point, and so discussions will continue at the Council” on the retention of personal data, Braz stated. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)