Brussels, 26/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - The Belgian senatorial commission responsible for following up the standing committee on control of the intelligence and security services and the special commission responsible for the parliamentary accompaniment of the standing committee on control of police services at the House of Representatives adopted the report by Socialist Senator Anne-Marie Lizin, former MEP, and Christian Democrat MEP (CD&V), Tony Van Parys, on the Echelon global listening system. The report, which will be examined by the plenary Senate and no doubt also by the House, contains conclusions that are quite close to those formulated in the report by German Social Democrat Gerhard Schmidt, the conclusions of which were approved by Parliament last September (see EUROPE of 6 September 2001).
The report notes the existence of a global US interception system, with the participation of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It notes that other States, including France and Germany, have their own tapping system although they do not all have a capacity that is comparable to Echelon. Not only does Belgium not have such a system, but the Belgian services are not able to trace and track down the tapping to which the government, the public services, companies or citizens are subjected. The report notes that these systems are also used for economic espionage and that they violate the legal provisions applicable to the protection of privacy, guaranteed above all by the European Convention on Human Rights.
The report therefore recommends that the Belgian government: - examine the political and legal issues raised by global listening systems of allied States within NATO, or partners within the European Union, in the context of the ministerial meetings of these two organisations; - take measures for the security of communications and the discovery of interception threats; - have all kinds of economic espionage banned between the States of the European Union; - urge within the EU for the creation of a European intelligence service with a view to protecting the vital and common interests of EU countries, mainly against external threats, and in close collaboration with the national intelligence services; - demand of EU partners the gradual elaboration of European information exchange rules between intelligence services.
The Senate president, Armand De Decker (who also chairs the commission for follow-up intelligence activities), stressed the importance of giving the European Union the means to protect itself and to put an end to "competition between European services", which is now outdated, as well as the "barter system" used by these services. It calls for the adoption of a code of conduct governing relations between European services, and envisages convening a first meeting of parliamentary bodies for the control of intelligence services in the European Union Member States. It is, explained Mr De Decker, a matter of "heightening awareness of the need to develop true European collaboration" to cover needs. He stressed that the EU now even has monetary sovereignty to defend. The parliaments of some countries, like France, do not have commissions of this kind and could send their observers. He pointed out that the meeting could be held before the month of June.