Dangerous pernicious EU power-grabbing. New European spying proposals 'threaten British security'

Dangerous pernicious EU power-grabbing
There are two aspects of this highly dangerous and pernicious
proposal. It should be rejected out-of-hand in favour of close
cooperation at national level.

Firstly there is the idea that “intelligernce” is like the contents
of a lending library to be made freely available. None of the
countries involved seems to have givern an instant’s thought to the
fact that ‘intelligence’ is as useful as the skill of those
interpreting it. In this - as we saw over Iraq - the politicians
should have no part at all. Then again the sources of the
information will rapidly dry up if they think that someone they
distrust will see what they say or disclose. It’s lunacy.

Then the proposals turn to the expansion and deployment anywhere in
the EU of the European Gendarmerie Force - armed. No way should
this be allowed under any circumstances whatever. With our armed
forces fighting abroad this would allow the EU to take over the
government of this country altogether.

Note that the anti-Amercian Guardian cannot resist a totally
irrelevant gibe in its headline

xxxxxxxxxxxxx cs
=============================
TELEGRAPH 7.8.08
New European spying proposals 'threaten British security'
MI5 and MI6 could be forced to share their intelligence with the rest
of Europe under new proposals from the EU.
By Bruno Waterfield in Brussels and Duncan Gardham, Security
Correspondent

Under the plans, seen by the Daily Telegraph, all countries would
feed secret information into a central intelligence unit so that any
member state can use it.

But the proposals risk hard won intelligence gathered by British
agents being leaked by less scrupulous security services,
particularly in the former Communist states of Eastern Europe.

Although the Government has contributed to the proposals being drawn
up, Britain's security services are likely to put up stiff opposition
to the plans.
Historically British intelligence officers have enjoyed a good
relationship with their US counterparts, regularly exchanging
information particularly in the fight against terrorism.

However, there has been a degree of mistrust between the British
authorities and European security agencies. In the 1990s the French
intelligence service was blamed for leaking information shared by MI6
to the Serbian military.

One senior security source told the Daily Telegraph: "We have well-
worked principles about how we share information using bi-lateral
relationships built up over many years.
"We share information whenever we need to do so and while the idea of
dumping everything in a big pool may have a superficial attraction,
we would want to know that everyone was contributing equally and the
information shared was properly protected."

The document from the EU Future Group is expected to form the basis
of legislation next year and calls on countries to abandon the
"principle of confidentiality" which has governed the sharing of
intelligence for decades.

The proposals stop short of calling for a European spy agency but say
there is a need for "increased synergies between police and security
intelligence services."

It suggests a network of "anti-terrorist centres" in each country co-
ordinated by SitCen, the European Union's intelligence assessment
centre in Brussels.

Other proposals suggest standardising police surveillance techniques
and extending the sharing of DNA and fingerprint databases to include
CCTV video footage and material gathered by "spy drones".

The plans are based on the idea that the EU can do better than
national governments with the report adding: "It appears that this
sector cannot be managed politically by individual member
states." [What does that mean ? -cs]

It is also suggests that the European Gendarmerie Force (EGF), which
currently only involves France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the
Netherlands, should become an EU body.

The proposal will step up pressure on the UK to allow the deployment
of armed foreign police officers in Britain during "crisis"
situations, including public order disturbances at international
summits. [WHO is to define what a “crisis is and WHO is to deploy
the armed foreign police officers? - cs]

Other proposals include the formation of a paramilitary police force
which can be deployed by a Brussels "mission command" in
international hotspots outside the EU's borders.

The confidential 53-page document, called European Home Affairs in an
Open World, sets out plans for an EU programme of security measures
from 2010 to 2014.

It has been drafted by a top-level group consisting of justice
ministers from Germany, Portugal, Slovenia, France, the Czech
Republic and Sweden as well as the European Commission.

The plans have alarmed both the Conservatives and civil libertarians
as both an erosion of national sovereignty and a threat to freedom.

Dominic Grieve, the Shadow Home Secretary, said: "This report reveals
the enormous scope of Brussels' ambitions for EU control over vital
areas of national security policy. While practical co-operation
between EU partners is important - the Government must resolutely
resist any attempt to fetter British control over this important
policy area."

Government sources said they were still considering the proposals but
were keen to see greater co-operation in gathering intelligence at
European borders.

A Home Office spokesman said: "The UK has followed the workings of
the Future Group and has fed in where possible.
"The report contains some useful ideas regarding how EU countries can
cooperate on global issues such as combating terrorism."
=============================
GUARDIAN 7.8.08
Secret EU security draft risks uproar with call to pool policing and
give US personal data

Europe should consider sharing vast amounts of intelligence and
information on its citizens with the US to establish a "Euro-Atlantic
area of cooperation" to combat terrorism, according to a high-level
confidential report on future security.

The 27 members of the EU should also pool intelligence on terrorism,
develop joint video-surveillance and unmanned drone aircraft, start
networks of anti-terrorism centres, and boost the role and powers of
an intelligence-coordinating body in Brussels, said senior officials.

The 53-page report drafted by the Future Group of interior and
justice ministers from six EU member states - Germany, France,
Sweden, Portugal, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic -argues Europe
will need to integrate much of its policing, intelligence-gathering,
and policy-making if it is to tackle terrorism, organised crime, and
legal and illegal immigration.

The report, seen by the Guardian, was submitted to EU governments
last month following 18 months of work. The group, which also
includes senior officials from the European Commission, was
established by Germany last year and charged with drafting a
blueprint for security and justice policy over the next five years.

Baroness Scotland, the UK attorney general, had observer status with
the group to assess the implications for Britain, whose legal system,
unlike continental Europe, is based on the common law.

The group's controversial proposals are certain to trigger major
disputes, not least its calls for Europe to create an expeditionary
corps of armed gendarmerie for paramilitary intervention overseas.

The report said the EU would fail to beat terrorism unless it
developed a full partnership with Washington, a process currently
pushing ahead in fits and starts.
"The EU should make up its mind with regard to the political
objective of achieving a Euro-Atlantic area of cooperation with the
United States in the field of freedom, security and justice," it said.

Such a pact, which should be finalised by 2014 at the latest, would
entail the transfer of vast volumes of information on European
citizens and travellers to the US authorities. Negotiations have long
been under way to agree such a pact, but have been bedevilled by
divergences in privacy law and data protection regimes.

The US is already demanding that EU countries sign up for a battery
of security measures on transatlantic flights and the supply of
personal information on passengers if they are to enjoy visa-free
travel to the US. Under one such accord struck in March between
Washington and Berlin, the Germans are to make DNA and biometric
information on travellers available.

The European Commission and the US homeland security department are
also trying to iron out discrepancies in privacy laws to allow the
wholesale exchange of data. The aim is to reach a binding
international agreement this year or next.

Last month the American Civil Liberties Union wrote to MEPs pressing
Brussels to reject US pressure because the US is "a country that, in
privacy terms, is all but lawless ... US privacy laws are weak. They
offer little protection to citizens and virtually none to
non-citizens."

While urging a comprehensive transatlantic electronic pact, the
Future Group focuses mainly on boosting police cooperation and
integration between EU states, policies which would reinforce the
powers of European agencies and institutions bearing acronyms such as
Europol, Eurojust, Frontex, and Sitcen and perhaps see new agencies
established to deal with security and intelligence operations.

Several member states, not least Britain, will have deep qualms about
the proposals, with the British likely to balk at automatic pooling
of national intelligence.

Anti-terrorist campaigns can only be effective if "maximum
information flow between [EU] member states is guaranteed," the
report said. "Relevant security-related information should be
available to all security authorities in the member states." It said
"networks of anti-terrorist centres" was a possible solution.

While cooperation between national police forces in the EU was
advancing, the report conceded that the sharing of espionage and
intelligence material was a "considerable challenge" as it clashed
with the "principle of confidentiality" that is the basis for
successful exchanges.

The report calls for a bigger role for "Sitcen" in coordinating
intelligence sharing. Sitcen, or the Joint Situation Centre, is a
shadowy intelligence body based in Brussels which started as a
foreign policy tool supplying analysis on international crises to
Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, but which now focuses on
counter-terrorism and internal security policy.

Key points
· National police forces to cooperate and integrate
· Improve European-level crisis management
· Need to harness the talents of "different actors" in fighting
terrorism
· National security services and intelligence agencies need to
collaborate much more closely
· New EU internet-based propaganda campaign to defeat radicalisation
and terrorist recruitment
· Create "European Gendarmerie Force" for deployment and intervention
abroad. Pooling of EU funds for such missions
· Common EU immigration policies. [See “Our Master’s voice speaks”
sent 6/8/08] By 2014, EU leaders should make the political decision
on whether to enter a "Euro-Atlantic area of freedom, security, and
justice" with the Americans