Telecoms package: EU Council deletes fundamental rights safeguards

Paris, 27/11/08. The EU Council reached a political agreement on the telecommunication reform (“Telecoms Package”). On one hand, crucial modifications to the text finally doom Nicolas Sarkozy's project to impose graduated response to the whole Europe. On the other hand, important safeguards to citizen's fundamental rights and freedoms were deleted. The agreed text lowers the protection of privacy in the EU, in the name of “security”.

“The Council's agreement failed to protect fundamental rights by deleting two important safeguards. Let's hope the European Parliament will fight against industry lobbies during the second reading and finally clean up the whole package. No compromise must be made in preserving the right to a due process and privacy in the digital environnement.” concluded Jérémie Zimmermann, co-founder and coordinator of La Quadrature.