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GUE/NGL AGAINST DATA RETENTION
Strasbourg, 14/12/05,
Today, the "European United Left/Nordic Green Left" group voted against the compromise between the Council and the two big groups of the European Parliament on data retention.
"The proposal represents a huge intrusion into civil liberties", says GUE/NGL shadow on the case Mrs. Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann. She continues:
The legal instrument suggested by the Commission is neither necessary nor effective. The intended duration of data retention is much too long and the quantity of stored data types too extensive. The vague definition of 'competent national authorities' does not exclude secret services from using this data.
Moreover, we seriously doubt the impact of this legislation on combating terror and organised crime. So far both the Council and the Commission have not come up with proof that serious crimes can actually be solved more successfully by storing enormous and diverse quantities of communication data. The funds required for the introduction of these measures would be much more gainfully used in fighting serious crime, for instance in focused investigations and better co-operation between the prosecution authorities.
This is why we tabled an amendment to reject the whole proposal, which was unfortunately rejected", Sylvia-Yvonne Kaufmann concludes. |