‘PEGA’, the European Parliament’s special committee on Pegasus spyware targets in the EU - politicians, journalists or lawyers - started its work on Tuesday 19 April, against the backdrop of new revelations about the use of this software by governments, in this case the Spanish government against Catalan separatist MEPs.
According to an investigation by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab revealed on 18 April, dozens of people directly or indirectly linked to the Catalan separatist movement were spied on using this Israeli software, including three Catalan MEPs, Antoni Comin, Diana Riba (Greens/EFA) and Jordi Solé (Greens/EFA), as well as lawyers and members of the Catalan parliament and regional government.
A total of 63 people were allegedly spied on, including elected officials or candidates from at least five Spanish political parties. These revelations are in addition to those of the Reuters agency, about ten days ago, according to which Commissioner Didier Reynders was also illegally listened in on.
Against this background, the committee of inquiry appointed its management team on Tuesday 19 April and nominated Dutchman Jeroen Lenaers (EPP) by acclamation as its new chair. Three other vice-presidents were appointed: Sándor Rónai from Hungary for S&D, Diana Riba i Giner from Spain for the Greens/EFA and Moritz Körner from Germany for Renew Europe. A technical problem temporarily delayed the election of the 4th vice-president nominated by The Left in the person of Cypriot Giorgos Georgiou.
Sophie in ’t Veld (Renew Europe) from the Netherlands is expected to draft the committee’s report.
“We haven’t heard the last of Pegasus”, said Dutch MEP Jeroen Lenaers, who hopes that the committee’s 12-month investigation will shed light on the targets of the Pegasus software, but also on “other possible software” used in the EU.
On Tuesday 19 April, the Greek press reported the use against a Greek investigative journalist of a software called ‘Predator’.
The facts reported are, in any case, “very alarming”, added the chairman of the committee of inquiry.
At a joint press conference on the same day, four MEPs called on the EU institutions to react and asked the European Parliament President, Roberta Metsola, to send a clear message to governments. The EU Council should also “condemn” these practices, said German Greens/ALE MEP Hannah Neumann.
Andrzej Halicki (EPP, Poland) said “we must react to these revelations” and demand “explanations”. Hungarian MEP Anna Júlia Donath (Renew Europe) said that eavesdropping with spyware should be banned as long as there are no safeguards in place.
“Spyware can endanger fundamental rights and destabilise democracies. Ideally, the work of this committee of inquiry should be the first step towards regulating the international sale and use of spyware technology as well as the establishment of legally binding non-espionage agreements for the public and private sectors within friendly democracies”, said Moritz Körner.
Asked about the new revelations the same day, the Commission shifted the responsibility to national governments, saying it “has no role in discussing the intelligence activities of national authorities” or “issues that concern national data protection authorities”.
“The Member States are responsible for these supervisors, we have to make sure that there is a good balance of powers and counter-powers within a country and it is up to the national authorities to make sure that these services work properly: that is what we expect from the Member States”.
The Commission also highlighted its ongoing work to strengthen the work and safety of journalists. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)