10/12/2019 (Agence Europe) – The European Commissioner for Security, Ylva Johansson, spoke out on Monday 9 December in favour of legislation on data retention before members of the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) (see EUROPE 12386/19). Asked by MEP Patrick Breyer (Greens/EFA, Germany), who wanted to ensure that the new European Commission did not intend to propose an instrument at European level (see EUROPE 12278/27), Ms Johansson said that the EU "needed" such legislation, but said it was still too early to give an opinion, given that several cases are currently pending before the EU Court of Justice. "Blanket and indiscriminate telecommunications data retention is the most privacy invasive instrument and possibly the least popular surveillance measure of all", were concerns expressed by Patrick Breyer in a statement on Tuesday, December 10. (MF)