DATA PROTECTION DIRECTIVE DEADLOCKED.

The draft Directive on processing personal information and protecting privacy in the electronic communications sector sparked off a row between MEPs, when they met on September 6, during their latest plenary session in Strasbourg. The parliamentarians spurned the final package of amendments (drafted by Marco Cappato, Italy, TDI), which they previously adopted on an individual basis. The matter has now been referred back to the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights. One of the most controversial items in the proposal (co-decision, first reading) was nonetheless agreed upon by the Parliament. MEPs voted by 259 to 210 with six abstentions in favour of an amendment banning the sending of unsolicited e-mail messages ("spamming"), thereby signalling their preference for the "opt-in" system, where unsolicited messages should be agreed to beforehand by recipients.Last July 11, the Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights decided to back the subsidiarity principle so Member States would be able to opt in, or out as they choose. With the second option, unsolicited messages are allowed as long as...