Paris, (Le Monde.fr |
The President of the European Commission , José Manuel Barroso defended Thursday, October 24 the " fundamental right " to respect for privacy , warning against "totalitarianism " , after new revelations about the spying conducted by the Americans in Europe, notably revealed by Le Monde.
Read also: " NSA Spying : all documents published by Le Monde "
" The protection of privacy is very important for Europe ," Barroso said , when asked at a press conference ahead of the EU summit in Brussels . The President of the Commission also compared the NSA monitoring the situation in East Germany at the time of the GDR, " where the secret police spying on people daily "
" We know , very recently , that means totalitarianism. We know what happens when the state uses its powers to break into people's lives . "
" SPY WITH FRIENDS , IT WILL NOT "
The summit of European leaders opened Thursday afternoon in Brussels. Originally planned to be a top "routine" devoted especially to the digital economy , the meeting of Heads of State or Government is energized by the growing scandal monitoring their allies by the United States.
Read also: " The magnitude of the global spying by the NSA "
On Wednesday, the German government revealed that the mobile phone of Chancellor Angela Merkel had been monitored. The spokesman for the Chancellor said that " the federal government had received information that the mobile phone of the Chancellor was tapped by U.S. services." Suspicions sufficiently credible to Angela Merkel called Barack Obama, who has denied the charges.
The Chancellor has also raised the case upon arrival in Brussels in mid -afternoon , during a bilateral meeting with Francois Hollande, " to coordinate their response ." " Espionage friends, it will not ," insisted the Chancellor , who recalled that this case monitoring " for all citizens ."
"NOW , WE MUST ACT "
These findings chain involved after the first revelations of Edward Snowden spring on the extensive system of U.S. cyber surveillance. However, the Europeans have so far shown no unity against this scandal. And for good reason : not only intelligence matters remain a national responsibility , but espionage is practiced between countries of the European Union.
The journalist Glenn Greenwald, owner of the files entrusted to him by Edward Snowden , said the Italians had been touted not only by the American services , but also by the British. Another sign of the inability of Europeans to show a united front, their differences on the draft law on the protection of data presented there several months by the European Commission.
"Now we must act , not just make statements ," on Thursday launched the European Justice Commissioner , Viviane Reding, calling on European leaders to ensure that the reform is adopted " by spring 2014 ." Including Brussels hopes that large groups of the Internet to obtain the prior consent of the use of their personal data, fines .
