EU summit marred by spying accusations
Jonathan Lindsell, 25 October 2013
Today’s EU summit was intended to make serious progress. The Lampedusa tragedy, in which 359 migrants fleeing Africa for Italy drowned, galvanised member states to make a comprehensive borders policy. British interests, such as limiting ‘benefits tourism’ and cutting red tape, were on the agenda. Business Minister Michael Fallon has produced a list of regulations British business needs to cut, and Commission President José Manuel Barroso indicated sympathy for reducing regulatory burdens.
Revelations about the United States’ surveillance programme has derailed the Brussels meeting. Documents leaked by Edward Snowden suggest the National Security Agency monitored the phones of 35 world leaders, having attained their personal numbers from a second, undisclosed department. The French and German governments have reacted with shock. Angela Merkel has been especially vocal, speaking out after a phone-call from Barack Obama himself and demanding further meetings with the US ambassador by December. Germany is particularly sensitive to surveillance as its people are steeped in memories of the Gestapo and the Stasi of communist East Germany. More recently, German domestic surveillance has been embroiled in scandals with neo-fascists and racial murder.
The UK’s own surveillance operation, TEMPORA, is run from GCHQ in Cheltenham in close co-operation with the NSA. After the White House assured journalists that America has never spied on David Cameron, EU leaders have inferred UK complicity in the monitoring programme as part of the ‘Five Eyes’ agreement (along with Canada, New Zealand and Australia). “Spying among friends, that cannot be,” Merkel said of her tapping.
She was echoed by French President François Hollande, who remarked, “What is at stake is preserving our relations with the United States”. Britain’s foreign relations have already been affected by the Snowden affair: Brazil was outraged when Heathrow police held David Miranda for nine hours. The Brazilian citizen, partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, was released without charge. Nina Schick of Open Europe suggests Italy will tomorrow be rocked by further allegations of GCHQ spying on Rome.
The Brussels climate of hostility has wider implications for the UK. David Cameron had championed the ‘Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership” (TTIP) as a key reason for Britain’s continued EU membership. Belgian and Dutch leaders are unwilling to continue negotiations until America includes data security clauses. This comes after other delays.
Compared to France and Germany, the British public and media have not been so shocked by the extent of data monitoring. This is partly because most news outlets obeyed a government ‘D-Notice’ not to publish related stories in the interests of national security. The Guardian continued to print documents, even after government employees physically destroyed potentially sensitive hard-drives. Meanwhile in America, there has been cross-party support for motions to increase Congressional or judicial oversight on spying programmes.
Foreign Secretary William Hague assured the British public, “If you are a law-abiding citizen…you have nothing to fear…Indeed, you’ll never be aware of the things those agencies are doing.”