July 3, 2013 (TSR-PressTV) – The European Union is examining the potential violation of the EU law over revealed tapping of global communications and sharing of gleaned data with the United States.
The revelations of Britain’s large-scale eavesdropping operation codenamed Tempora have led to outrage among European governments.
A European Union source who requested anonymity told Reuters that the bloc’s executive Commission “is seeking to assess whether Tempora could fall under EU law” and be a violation of its Data Protection Directive.
Britain could face action at the European Court of Justice if the commission decides that London has broken the privacy law.
London is not expected to evade a court action by resorting to national security concerns following a direct face-off with the EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding.
Reding told the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday that she had asked British Foreign Secretary William Hague to clarify the scope of the programme.
“The message is clear: The fact that the programs are said to relate to national security does not mean that anything goes. A balance needs to be struck between the policy objective pursued and the impact on fundamental rights, in particular the right to privacy,” she said.
