Venstres ledelse har deltatt på ELDRs årlige kongress i Helsinki de siste dagene, og i dag vedtok kongressen med overveldende flertall å be EU-kommisjonen trekke tilbake direktivet. I uttalelsen slår ELDR fast at retten til privatliv og privat kommunikasjon er fundamental, og de europeiske liberalerne ser med bekymring på at disse rettene er i ferd med å bli undergravd.
– Direktivet bryter grunnleggende med prinsippet om at du ikke skal overvåkes dersom du ikke har gjort noe ulovlig, sier Venstres leder Trine Skei Grande, som har vært tilstede på kongressen. – Vi håper nå kommisjonen vil lytte til de liberale partiene i Europa og trekke tilbake direktivet.
ELDR består av 56 liberale partier i Europa, og har 75 representanter i Europaparlamentet, tilknyttet den liberale ALDE-gruppen. ELDRs medlemspartier har fire statsministre i Europa og 8 av 27 EU-kommisjonærer.
Mer om ELDR her.
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Uttalelsen om datalagringsdirektivet:
The Data Retention Directive
The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party, convening in Helsinki, Finland, on 13-15 October 2010:
Notes that:
– The Data Retention Directive (Directive 2006/24/EC) was adopted on 15 March 7 2006 by the European Parliament and the Council, and should have been implemented by the Member States before 15 March 2009;
– The Data Retention Directive stipulates that Member States shall ensure that providers of publicly available electronic communications services or of a public communications network are obliged to retain communication data for a period of six months to two years;
– No later than 15 September 2010 the Commission should have submitted to the European Parliament and the Council an evaluation of the application of the Data Retention Directive and its impacts, with a view to determining whether it is necessary to amend the provisions of the Directive.
Recognises that:
– Under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, everyone has the right to respect for his or her private and family life, home and correspondence;
Recalls:
– The ELDR resolution "The citizens right to free communication and freedom of expression in an online world" of November 2009, where the member parties were encouraged to abolish the Data Retention Directive;
– That the European Court of Human Rights on 4 December 4 2008, in the case of S. and Marper v. The United Kingdom, held that the retention of personal data of persons suspected but not convicted of offences was in violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights;
– That the High Courts of, for example, Germany and Romania have rejected implementation of the Data Retention Directive;
– That the High Courts of, for example, Sweden and Ireland have asked the European Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling on the Data Retention Directive;
– That the European Court of Justice on 29 January 2008, in case C-275/06, Productores de Música de España (Promusicae) v. Telefónica de España SAU, held that Member States were not obliged to explicitly implement all provisions of, inter alia, Directive 2004/48/EG, since Member States must find a fair balance between competing public and private interests when implementing a directive;
Therefore:
– Notes with concern that citizens rights to free communication, integrity and respect for their private life and communication in a digital world are being increasingly limited;
– Stresses that the right to respect for private life and communication is a fundamental right, and that there shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of these rights except such as is proportionate, in accordance with the law and as necessary in a democratic society;
– Firmly believes that, since the Data Retention Directive stipulates that personal data on communication shall be retained for all citizens — not only those suspected of an offence — for a significant amount of time, it fails to strike a fair balance between the public interest and citizens rights to respect for their private life and communications;
– Calls on the Commission to revoke the Data Retention Directive, or alternatively to suggest an amendment of it in line with the ruling of the European Court of Justice in case C-275/06, rendering the implementation of the Data Retention Directive voluntary for Member States.