The
European Union is to press on with plans to upgrade its internal
security procedures despite civil liberties groups describing the
proposals as „dangerously authoritarian“.
By Bruno Waterfield in Brussels
[telegraph.co.uk] Europe’s justice ministers will hold talks on the „domestic security
policy“ and surveillance network proposals, known in Brussels circles
as the „Stockholm programme“, on July 15 with the aim of finishing work
on the EU’s first ever internal security policy by the end of 2009.
Jacques
Barrot, the European justice and security commissioner, yesterday
publicly declared that the aim was to „develop a domestic security
strategy for the EU“, once regarded as a strictly national „home
affairs“ area of policy.
„National frontiers should no longer restrict our activities,“ he said.
Mark Francois, Conservative spokesman on Europe, has demanded „immediate clarity on where the government stands on this“.
„These are potentially dangerous proposals which could interfere in Britain’s internal security,“ he said.
„The chaos and division in Gordon Brown’s government is crippling Britain’s ability to make its voice heard in Europe.“
Critics
of the plans have claimed that moves to create a new „information
system architecture“ of Europe-wide police and security databases will
create a „surveillance state“.
Tony Bunyan, of the European Civil
Liberties Network (ECLN), has warned that EU security officials are
seeking to harness a „digital tsunami“ of new information technology
without asking „political and moral questions first“.
„An increasingly sophisticated internal and external security apparatus is developing under the auspices of the EU,“ he said.
Mr
Bunyan has suggested that existing and new proposals will create an EU
ID card register, internet surveillance systems, satellite
surveillance, automated exit-entry border systems operated by machines
reading biometrics and risk profiling systems.
„In five or 10
years time when we have the surveillance and database state people will
look back and ask, ‚what were you doing in 2009 to stop this
happening?‘,“ he said.
Civil liberties groups are particularly
concerned over „convergence“ proposals to herald standardise European
police surveillance techniques and to create „tool-pools“ of common
data gathering systems to be operated at the EU level.
Under the
plans the scope of information available to law enforcement agencies
and „public security organisations“ would be extended from the sharing
of existing DNA and fingerprint databases, kept and stored for new
digital generation ID cards, to include CCTV video footage and material
gathered from internet surveillance.
The Lisbon Treaty, currently
stalled after Ireland’s referendum rejection last year, creates a
secretive new Standing Committee for Internal Security, known as COSI,
to co-ordinate policy between national forces and EU organisations such
as Europol, the Frontex borders agency, the European Gendarmerie Force
and the Brussels intelligence sharing Joint Situation Centre or Sitcen.
EU officials have told The Daily Telegraph
that the radical plans will be controversial and will need powers
contained within the Lisbon Treaty, currently awaiting a second Irish
vote this autumn.
„The British and some others will not like it
as it moves policy to the EU,“ said an official. „Some of things we
want to do will only be realistic with the Lisbon Treaty in place, so
we need that too.“
