He had
been hoping to speed up draft EU legislation, put forward by the
UK, France, Ireland and Sweden in April last year, and rejected by
MEPs
in June. The draft law would oblige the retention of communications
data from phone calls and emails for a minimum period of 12
months.
The stored information would only include details on the date,
time and location of the communication but not on the content of
the conversation.
The UK has put renewed emphasis on the need for data retention
since the London bombings, and in a major speech to the European
Parliament last week, Charles Clarke warned that the ability of
enforcement agencies to collect and use intelligence was being
hampered by the current legal framework.
He put the issue before EU Ministers on Thursday, when existing
plans for a Framework Decision on the retention of communications
data were discussed.
If the Home Secretary can get Council approval for the Framework
Decision, the proposals will be halfway towards being made into
law, in a process that does not require the approval of MEPs.
The EU Commission is due to publish its own proposals on 21st
September, but Commission-led legislation requires the approval of
both the Council of Ministers and Parliament – and is therefore a
much longer process.
According to reports, the Home Secretary did not in the end
manage to gain ministerial approval for his proposals last week,
after some Member States and industry representatives raised
concerns over the expense and the impact on civil liberties.
Industry group the European Telecommunications Network
Operators’ Association, which was invited to participate at the
meeting, warned that the costs could be excessive.
"We think it's a rather unsophisticated approach to a complex
problem," said Michael Bartholomew, the head of the lobbying group,
according to The Scotsman newspaper. "The implications of this
total package are very considerable, and it seems to me that we're
talking about hundreds of millions of euros on a pan-European
basis."
Five trade groups representing telcos, ISPs and other electronic
communications services, jointly warned Ministers that the proposed
measures would require operators to keep more types of data for
longer periods than currently necessary for business purposes.
Significant additional investment will be needed to upgrade
networks, set up systems for the collection, storage and retrieval
of data, ensure the security of data and train staff, said the
groups. They also expressed concern over the effectiveness and
technical feasibility of the proposed measures.
“In essence,” said the groups in a joint statement, “the current
proposals are an active choice to move away from a proven and
constructive approach, where industry’s expertise and good-will are
used to maximum effect to fight crime, towards an untargeted,
expensive and all-pervasive approach. “
