Against the background of the PRISM revelations, European Parliament News reports:
Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee will conduct an “in-depth inquiry” into the US surveillance programmes, including the bugging of EU premises and other spying allegations, and present its results by the end of this year, says a resolution passed by the full House on Thursday. Parliament’s President and political group leaders formally confirmed the launch of the inquiry. MEPs also call for more protection for whistleblowers.
But the story goes on:
Parliament also expresses grave concern about allegations that similar surveillance programmes are run by several EU member states, such as the UK, Sweden, The Netherlands, Germany and Poland. It urges them to examine whether those programmes are compatible with EU law.
In Sweden’s case, this has to be a reference to the infamous FRA Law, which allows Sweden’s counterpart to the American NSA to spy on all data traffic going into or out of the country (which effectively means most traffic within the country as well).
Yet, in forcing through the legislation, the government argued it was mandated by an EU directive. Something doesn’t add up….