Brussels, 12/07/2005 (Agence Europe) - The British Foreign Secretary and current President of the Council of the EU addressed the committee on foreign affairs of the EP on Tuesday, pleading in favour of reinforced cooperation in the fight against terrorism- whilst speaking out against any repression of individual liberties. Mr Straw called on the MEPs to support a project to oblige telecommunications operators to keep and give access to data on telephone calls and exchanges of electronic mail for twelve months. The kept data will not relate to the content of the calls, just to the exact time the calls were made or the emails sent and to whom, the British Minister explained. “I understand the concerns” of the EP and elsewhere on the protection of civil liberties- liberties which must be protected, because if we create a police State, “this would be a victory for the terrorists”. Notwithstanding, Mr Straw added that “in democracy, we need to find a balance between the needs of rule of law and civil liberties” and with “proper safeguards”, civil liberties can be respected. The question will also be discussed at the extraordinary Council of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers, to take place this Wednesday in Brussels.
Speaking before the MEPs, Mr Straw also raised issues of international politics, such as: -the reform of the UN Security Council. Under the UK Presidency, the EU is unlikely to reach agreement on a consensus on this issue due to differences of opinion between the Member States. “The best we can do is to manage that”, said Mr Straw; -the refusal of Russia to sign the border agreement with Estonia. This issue will be on the table of the General Affairs/External Relations Council next Monday (18 July), said Mr Straw, who hopes for a swift solution to this problem. “We want to have good relations with Russia, but we also want to- and should- show solidarity for our Baltic Member States”, said Mr Straw.