About: PRISM
US slams ECJ advisor’s Safe Harbour opinion
The US government has reacted sharply to the ECJ advocate general's recent opinion on the EU-US data sharing agreement Safe Harbour, criticising its “numerous inaccurate assertions about intelligence practices of the United States”.
Germany calls in British ambassador over spy claims
Germany on Tuesday (5 October) asked the British ambassador to come to the foreign ministry to discuss a newspaper report that a covert spying station was operating in Berlin with hi-tech equipment mounted on the embassy roof.
Fresh claims emerge in US-Germany spying row
Barack Obama knew his intelligence services were eavesdropping on Angela Merkel as long ago as 2010, according to a report published yesterday (27 October) by German newspaper Bild am Sonntag, which claims the US president did not trust her handling of the eurozone crisis.
Edward Snowden nominated for EU human rights award
Edward Snowden was nominated by the Greens and GUE/NGL leftist groups in the European Parliament to receive the Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought, an idea that was first floated by a Swedish professor in August this year.
Guardian editor warns MEPs about ‘chilling effect’ of Prism probe on the media
The editor of the UK’s Guardian newspaper urged Members of the European Parliament last week to do more to shield the media, claiming UK government pressure over revelations in the Snowden affair would have a chilling effect on journalism.
France says it was no victim of Prism
The French Ministry for Foreign Affairs has told EURACTIV that its diplomatic network system is protected and secure, and could not have been a target for the NSA. Human rights organisations have however filed complaints against Apple, Google and Facebook.
Europe pushes own digital ‘cloud’ in wake of US spying scandal
The European Commission will redouble efforts to promote EU-based cloud services this autumn - including the urgent drafting of a new charter - amid mounting evidence that the US Prism spying scandal may damage the global market share of US-based tech companies involved in the cloud computing sector.
Facebook reveals global government data snooping requests
The combined requests by EU member states for information from Facebook amounted to roughly two-thirds the number of US requests, according to global data disclosed by the social network site yesterday (27 August).
UK requests destruction of sensitive Snowden files, EU silent
The European Commission has declined to comment on whether pressure exerted by UK authorities on the Guardian newspaper to destroy sensitive documents leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden constituted an attack on media freedom.
Prism case prompts Merkel to seek tougher EU data protection laws
Chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed to push for tougher EU data protection rules and force Internet firms to be more open as she tried to reassure voters before a September election about intrusive snooping by US intelligence in Germany.
Verheugen: EU needs to respond to external, internal chaos
The European Union needs to strengthen itself internally if it is to become a global power, two former EU commissioners and an ex-president of the European Parliament told a conference in Warsaw. EURACTIV Poland reports.
Grybauskait?: Talks on Prism and trade to be held ‘in parallel’
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskait? said trade negotiations between the European Union and the United States would start with contacts between "professional specialists” who would look into reports that a US spy agency monitored phone calls and e-mails of EU institutions and some member states.
Parliament to launch enquiry into US eavesdropping
The European Parliament on Thursday (4 July) plans to establish a special committee to investigate reports that an American spy agency monitored phone calls and e-mails of EU institutions and some member states. But some MEPs sought to downplay pressure to freeze EU-US trade negotiations over the spying allegations. EURACTIV reports from Strasbourg.
Reding: ‘I am still awaiting a written response’ over US, UK spying allegations
European Commission requests for clarification from the American and British governments relating to espionage allegations remain unanswered as more revelations continue to stoke European political indignation.
MEPs call for freezing EU-US trade talks over spying allegations
Some EU policymakers said talks for a free trade agreement between Washington and the EU should be put on ice until further clarification from the United States over revelations that American spies wiretapped European Union buildings in Brussels and Washington.
EU calls for US wiretapping to ‘stop immediately’
Top European Union officials have reacted angrily to revelations that the United States has wiretapped its buildings in Brussels and Washington, saying the allegations could have a “severe impact” on transatlantic trade negotiations, which were launched amid much fanfare less than two weeks ago.
EU ratchets up pressure on US over Prism spy scheme
EU lawmakers want to forbid the United States from accessing European citizens' data without the approval of a judge or equivalent authority, a response to the revelations about the Prism spy programme.