International

Representatives of the American government have expressed an interest in the telecommunications data of Europeans which the European Union plans in the near future to record and preserve. SP Members of Parliament Jan de Wit and Harry van Bommel fear that this will create American-style conditions and have asked the Minister of Justice for clarification.

In February the 'Big Brother' Directive was approved by the European Parliament, requiring EU member states, on the pretext of the fight against terrorism and crime, to keep a record of the telephone and Internet use of every inhabitant and resident company. According to the Swedish newspaper Sydsvenskan, representatives of the American government have in the meantime held informal meetings with counterparts from the European Commission, while the US is considering approaching each member state with a request for access to such data.

SP Members of Parliament Jan de Wit and Harry van Bommel have asked the Minister of Justice for an explanation of this, de Wit commenting that “the 'Big Brother' Directive was supposed to guarantee the safety of the European public. We've always had our doubts about the effectiveness of data retention and concerns over the interest which third parties might have in these data. That such worries were not unfounded is demonstrated by this American interest. The US must not be given unlimited access. We don't want American-style conditions in Europe.”