26/10/2017 (Agence Europe) – On Thursday 26 October, the European Parliament finally confirmed the negotiating mandate for the confidentiality of electronic communications voted on last week at the parliamentary committee (see EUROPE 11887). Out of the 618 MEPs attending, 318 voted in favour (including two thirds of MEPs from the ALDE and a number of MEPs from the EPP), 280 voted against and 20 abstained. The European Consumers Office (BEUC) was delighted with this vote, while the employers’ organisation BusinessEurope was largely critical of it. The new rapporteur Birgit Sippel (S&D, Germany) spoke before the vote to denounce the intense lobbying from the industry and explained “the European Parliament today has two choices: to disappoint citizens who want the confidentiality of their data to be preserved, or to give into the lies disseminated by the industry”. This sets the tone. It is now up to the Council to reach a position before the negotiations can begin. (SPj)