DATA RETENTION/PROTECTION: LUKEWARM RESPONSE FROM MEPS TO COMMISSION PACKAGE.

This was the first chance for the Committee to discuss the recently-tabled European Commission proposals. Both rapporteurs insisted they should be seen as a package and be adopted in parallel. While Parliament is co-legislator on the Data Retention Directive, it is only being consulted on the Data Protection Framework Decision. It is not even sure MEPs will have a binding say on data retention, however, because Council has still to decide whether to proceed with the Directive or with a rival draft Framework Decision on which the EP was only consulted.

Data protection.

Ms Roure objected to the data protection proposal's lack of clarity on how long law enforcement agencies can keep data (the proposal only says that data should be stored "for no longer than is necessary"). The Commission's representative told the committee that it was "very hard to set deadlines" as the length of time police need to keep data "can vary a lot". Ms Roure also wants to ensure that each instance of someone accessing personal data is justified and traceable.

The rapporteur asked why there were clauses allowing data to be transferred to "private parties". The Commission official cited lawyers as an example of where a private person would have legitimate reasons for accessing data held by the police or judiciary. Baroness Sarah Ludford (Liberals, United Kingdom) was concerned about the exclusion of intelligence services from the data protection rules, given that they are not bound by European law under the EU Treaty. She voiced fears of data being transferred to non-EU countries with poor data protection standards, as the proposal grants member states wide discretion in deciding on such transfers.

The Commission official stressed that "this has not been a reaction to events - we have been working on it for a year". He admitted that the Commission had to bring forward its adoption, following a request from EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers in response to the July 7, 2005 terrorist bombings in London. He said the Commission would soon present a related proposal on the "principle of availability", which will aim to improve data sharing between national police services. The Commission plans in November to propose rules on police access to the future Visa Information System (VIS), the database of all visas issued by EU member states, he added.

Data retention.

"When will the data be deleted? It must be clearly determined", said rapporteur Alexander Alvaro, commenting...