Press and Photo Gallery
Data Retention: European Parliament Makes Welcome Progress
Thursday, 24 November 2005
BRUSSELS, 24 November 2005 -- Conservative leader in the European Parliament Timothy Kirkhope MEP today welcomed the approval of amendments by the Parliament's civil liberties, justice and home affairs committee on data retention proposals put forward by the Commission.
Mr Kirkhope, the Conservative justice and home affairs spokesman, said the amendments represented a hard-fought compromise between political groups and national governments. He said the amended proposal was now considerably closer to the Council's position than the views expressed by the Parliament's rapporteur, a liberal German MEP.
Mr Kirkhope said:
"Conservatives have worked hard to bring the Parliament round to a position which enables member states to take proportionate and effective action to fight terrorism without compromising civil liberties.
"The amendments the committee has adopted will mean member states can insist that mobile phone companies retain data about unanswered calls. The investigations of the Madrid and London bombings showed this to be a critical issue.
"We still need to hammer out various details - for example, the time limits on the retention of information and the type of data that can be stored. It's by no means certain that the British presidency will be able to reach agreement by the end of the year."
ENDS
