The
European Parliament had already rejected the measure – promoted by
the UK, France, Ireland and Sweden – in June, but had been asked to
reconsider.
MEPs were concerned that the proposals, which came in the form
of a draft Framework Decision from the Council of Ministers,
threatened the privacy of EU citizens and were not proportional to
the threat they were supposed to be tackling. They also feared that
Member States would simply ignore the Parliament's objections.
Yesterday it appeared that the Parliament's concerns remain.
According to a statement from the Parliament's press service: "MEPs
want the rules to be proportional to any threat and for the
Parliament to have an equal say with national government in this
area."
The draft Framework Decision allows for data retention periods
of up to three years and could be adopted by the Council acting
alone, unlike the Commission’s proposals, which require the
approval of both the Council and European Parliament.
The draft Directive is slightly more liberal than the draft
Framework Decision, but it has still drawn criticism from civil
liberties groups.
The EU’s Data Protection Supervisor set out on Monday the
changes he feels are necessary to make the draft Directive
compliant with human rights legislation. He did not express an
opinion on the Council's proposal.
German Liberal MEP Alexander ALVARO, the EP's rapporteur on the
issue, welcomed Tuesday’s vote.
"The European Parliament has demonstrated once again that it
should play a role in the retention of data at EU level,” he said
on the website for the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for
Europe. “The European Commission has validated our position by
submitting its own proposal on data retention only last week. I
assume that Council will not only accept this fact but will now
also participate constructively in finding a solution within the
co-decision procedure.”
While the Parliamentary rejection is not binding on the Council
of Ministers, it is likely to increase pressure on the Member
States to allow the Commission’s proposals to proceed.
According to The Associated Press, the UK, which holds the EU
presidency until the end of the year, has said that it will support
the Commission’s proposals if the European Parliament acts quickly
to approve the measure.
The Council is due to meet on 12th October to discuss data
retention.
