Brussels, 26/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 26 September, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), Peter Hustinx, returned his opinion on the proposed directive presented by the European Commission on the holding of telecommunications data. Last Wednesday, the Commission presented this proposal, which is a rival to the framework decision tabled over a year ago by France, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Sweden, and which was discussed at the most recent JHA Councils (see EUROPE 9032). Although he is not convinced of the need for such a directive, Peter Hunstinx reserves a favourable welcome to this proposal, which provides for co-decision with the Parliament, "the only acceptable procedure in this extremely delicate field". The proposal by the four Member States "is unacceptable, because it is built on an inappropriate foundation", he told the press. In spite of everything, the EDPS voiced one serious reservation: the Commission's proposal cannot be adopted in its current form, because it does not contain sufficient safeguard measures on the right of European citizens to privacy. The EDPS, whose principal task is to guarantee respect for the fundamental liberties and rights of physical persons in terms of the handling of data of a personal nature by Community institutions and bodies, is extremely concerned by the direct impact this directive would have on everybody's privacy. "It is absolutely essential for it to respect the fundamental rights, consolidated by the case law of the European Court of Human Rights", otherwise it would be "not merely unacceptable, but also illegal", he said. The directive must be stricter, more specific, better balanced and should offer a more harmonised framework for service providers, the citizens and the national monitoring authorities, the Supervisor underlines. The EDPS also notes that the European Union does not have the necessary competencies to check the access of security or secret services to data, with the risk of abuse that this situation could bring about.
A 16-page document goes into detail about the criteria to be respected in order for the directive to be acceptable to the EDPS, which are: - strictly limited holding periods: these must correspond to the needs of the competent authorities and must be harmonised in the Member States. Furthermore, maximum holding periods must be laid down. Periods in excess of the 6 or 12 months proposed would not be allowable; limited number of registered data: this number must take account of the needs of the competent authorities and guarantee that access to the content of the communications would not be possible. The content of telephone calls and e-mails could not be recorded under any circumstances and the held data would then have to be destroyed; -sufficient guarantees: specific clauses on access to held data by the competent authorities are necessary in order to guarantee that only the competent authorities can use these data in individual cases; -appropriateness of infrastructure: an appropriate technical framework must be set in place in order to guarantee data security, including financial incentives; -citizens' rights and guarantees: the people concerned must have the possibility of exercising their rights and the data protection commissioners must be the guarantors of these rights.
When asked about the comments of the European Supervisor, Friso Roscam Abbing, spokesperson for the Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs Franco Frattini, said that he was "not surprised" by this reaction, because the Supervisor had his job to do and to ensure that personal data was being protected. "The conclusions support our proposal. They are not against it", said the spokesperson, who added that the Commission would "take a very close look" at the document it had received, which was to be commented on by Peter Hustinx in committee before the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Monday evening.