WRITTEN QUESTION E-3797/00 by Maurizio Turco (TDI) to the Commission. Limits to the protection of privacy and legal tapping.
Date: 2000-12-07
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: area of freedom, security and justice, protection of communications

C 174 E/144

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

19.6.2001

(2001/C 174 E/148)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3793/00

by Roberto Bigliardo (TDI) to the Commission

(7 December 2000)

Subject: Transparency of negotiations

Can the Commission confirm the press reports that it is taking part in unofficial negotiations with the
WTO in Geneva with a view to liberalising a whole range of health and education-related services? Can it
also say what kind of brief has been given to the Member of the Commission responsible for trade?

Answer given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(25 January 2001)

Since January 2000, multilateral negotiations on the liberalisation of trade in services have started within
the framework of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).
The Community and its Member States are participating actively in that work, while continuing to pursue
their overall objective of launching as early as possible a comprehensive Round of trade negotiations. The
negotiating mandate for the Commission was adopted by the Council on 26 October 1999. It was
confirmed by the Parliament. Regarding the state of the negotiations, the Commission has reported
regularly to the plenary and to various committees of the Parliament.

The GATS 2000 negotiations cover all commercially traded services. However, services supplied in the
exercise of governmental authority are excluded from the scope of the GATS. Regarding commercially
traded services, the Community has decided that no sector should be excluded a priori. With regard to
health and education services, no specific negotiations have been held so far. It should be noted, however,
that in the course of the negotiations of the Uruguay Round, the Community and its Member States have
already taken some market access commitments for privately funded education services and for some
health services. These commitments mean for instance that foreign suppliers can establish privately funded
schools or hospitals in the Community and that such schools and hospitals will be treated as if they were
owned by Community nationals. However, Member States have listed appropriate limitations and condi-
tions to the commitments in order to protect specific domestic concerns. Moreover, the commitments do
not prevent Member States from establishing the appropriate regulatory framework to meet objectives of
public and social policy, such as guaranteeing affordable and qualitative services to the entire population.

The Commission can assure the Honourable Member that, as in the Uruguay Round, the Community will
not undertake any new commitment in the next GATS negotiations which would impair Member States(cid:146)
capacity to regulate the provision of health and education services and to intervene financially in the
sectors concerned.

(2001/C 174 E/149)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3797/00

by Maurizio Turco (TDI) to the Commission

(7 December 2000)

Subject: Limits to the protection of privacy and legal tapping

Under Article 13 of Directive 95/46/EC (1) and Article 14 of Directive 97/66/EC (2), both relating to the
protection of privacy and the processing of personal data, and Article 15 of proposal for a directive
COM(2000) 385, Member States may impose limits on the general principle of respect for privacy where
such measures are required in order to safeguard national security, defence, public security, or the
prevention,
investigation, detection, and prosecution of criminal offences or unauthorised use of tele-
communications or electronic communication systems.

19.6.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 174 E/145

The Working Party set up by Directive 95/46/EC has drawn up recommendation 2/99 on respect for
privacy where telecommunications tapping is concerned,
in which it specifies the requirements that
national laws must meet in order to ensure that tapping carried out by State bodies is consistent with
respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and Article 8 of the European Convention for the
Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

In the light of the foregoing, can the Commission say:

(cid:129) how it will give effect to the Working Party(cid:146)s recommendation 2/99;

(cid:129) whether it has ascertained that the national laws authorising tapping conform to the requirements laid

down in that recommendation;

(cid:129) whether it believes that the above-mentioned requirements could be incorporated into Directive 95/

46/EC when the latter is revised;

(cid:129) whether it does not consider, given that the Union is called upon to respect human rights and
fundamental freedoms under Articles 6 and 7 of the EU Treaty, that the European institutions should
do more to regulate legal tapping in the Union, for instance by removing or clarifying the exemptions
granted to Member States as regards legal tapping?

(1) OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31.
(2) OJ L 24, 30.1.1998, p. 1.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(19 February 2001)

The Commission takes account of the Working Party(cid:146)s recommendation 2/99 on protecting data when
drawing up proposals for adoption, (in particular, the proposal for a directive concerning the processing of
personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (1)), and when
monitoring the implementation of Community law.

In its sixth report of 7 December 2000 on the implementation of the telecommunications regulatory
package (2), the Commission examined the transposal into national law by the Member States of Directive
97/66/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 1997 concerning the processing
of personal data and the protection of privacy in the telecommunications sector. A thorough examination
of the national implementing measures is under way. The implementation of Directive 95/46/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard
to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data in the Member States will be the
subject of a Commission report provided for under Article 33 of this Directive which should deal, in
particular, with data processing of sound and image data relating to natural persons.

When assessing whether national measures are in line with Community law, the Commission is obliged to
interpret Community law in light of fundamental rights. It must check, in particular, the necessity and
proportionality of national measures derogating from the rights and obligations laid down in the body of
EU law. It will also make a similar examination under Directive 97/66/EC.

(1) OJ C 365 E, 19.12.2000.
(2) COM(2000) 814 final.