In a statement issued on Thursday, the Danish Presidency
rejected recent claims by UK civil liberties group Statewatch that
the EU has tabled a proposal for binding rules on data
retention.
Statewatch said that the proposed legislation would oblige
telecoms providers to store traffic data for up to two years, and
that such data would be collected in central databases in order to
be made available to all Member States.
The Presidency confirmed the existence of the proposal. However,
it said that the proposal only contained “a request that, within
the very near future, binding rules should be established on the
approximation of Member States’ rules on the obligation of
telecommunications services providers to keep information… in order
to ensure that such information is available when it is of
significance for a criminal investigation.”
The Presidency further claimed that the proposal “contains no
detailed indications as to what the contents of such rules should
be”, but emphasises that such regulation should be established
taking account of EU privacy and human rights legislation.
The Danish Presidency said that there are no further proposals
on the table regarding data retention, and that it is not engaged
in drafting such proposals. It added that, had the media consulted
the Presidency in advance, the misunderstandings “could have been
avoided.”
