# CE2004070EN.01008401.xml

| 20.3.2004 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | CE 70/84 |
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20.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 70/84

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(2004/C 70 E/086)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2318/03

by Armando Cossutta (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(14 July 2003)

Subject:   European citizens' right to privacy

Subject:

The EU-US summit was held on 25 June this year. One of the topics was or should have been the TIA project (originally ‘Total Information Awareness’, subsequently changed to ‘Terrorism Information Awareness’), basically a project to provide a gigantic apparatus for gathering and analysing information obtained from the most varied sources, ranging from existing data banks to commercial transactions, from people's movements to intercepted communications. According to Stefano Rodotà, the guarantor of the Italian privacy watchdog, we are witnessing a new dimension of surveillance, which increases the power of the State to obtain any personal data, irrespective of who gathered it and the original purpose for which it was gathered. The European Parliament, via its President Pat Cox, made its views clear: ‘we cannot let the US dictate law in Europe’.

| 1. | What was the outcome, as regards the TIA, of the summit meeting between the EU and the US held on 25 June this year? |
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1.

What was the outcome, as regards the TIA, of the summit meeting between the EU and the US held on 25 June this year?

| 2. | Does the Council not consider that US legislation on the subject cannot and must not have extraterritorial validity and that, if necessary, the most appropriate way of settling such issues is by international treaty? |
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2.

Does the Council not consider that US legislation on the subject cannot and must not have extraterritorial validity and that, if necessary, the most appropriate way of settling such issues is by international treaty?

| 3. | Did the Council uphold the principle that it is unacceptable that the United States should gather, by any means at its disposal, information resulting from communications freely exchanged between European citizens? |
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3.

Did the Council uphold the principle that it is unacceptable that the United States should gather, by any means at its disposal, information resulting from communications freely exchanged between European citizens?

| 4. | What steps will the Council take to safeguard the privacy of European citizens? |
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4.

What steps will the Council take to safeguard the privacy of European citizens?

Reply

(8 December 2003)

(8 December 2003)

The Council would inform the Honourable Member that there was no discussion of TIA at the summit with the United States on 25 June 2003. The Council notes the points on which the Honourable Member has expressed concern.

The Council would remind the Honourable Member that at the end of 2002 it approved an agreement between Europol and the United States covering, inter alia, the transmission of personal data. The Europol Joint Supervisory Body (the authority for the protection of personal data) gave a favourable opinion concerning that agreement. The EU's position concerning the protection of personal data is therefore well known to the United States. The Council intends to insist to the United States authorities — as the Commission is doing — on full respect for the European position and the need to find an appropriate solution that meets European standards. The Council also invites the Honourable Member to refer, in this connection, to the position stated on the transmission of data concerning passengers in Opinions 6/2002 and 4/2003 of the Article 29 Working Party on the Protection of Individuals with regard to the Processing of Personal Data.

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