Spying scandal casts shadow on trade talks

European Parliament joins leaders of France and Germany in highlighting impact on pending trade talks.

Allegations that the United States has been spying on the offices of the European institutions and on data from the European Union’s member states are casting a heavy shadow over the pending launch of talks on a transatlantic trade deal.

While the EU’s institutions have repeatedly emphasised that they are still in the phase of collecting information, political leaders in Europe and in the European Parliament have made clear that they believe that the allegations have sapped the confidence that would be needed to secure the type of ambitious deal that the two sides have been seeking.

The revelations, which come from a former contractor to the National Security Agency (NSA), Edward Snowden and were published at the weekend in the German magazine Der Spiegel, allege that the US accessed the communications of the Council of Ministers and EU delegations in the US.

A spokesman for Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, Steffan Seibert, said yesterday that, if the allegations are confirmed, “we will clearly say that bugging friends is unacceptable”. Seibert said that the revelations would affect the launch of talks. “Mutual trust is necessary in order to come to an agreement,” he said.

France’s President François Hollande yesterday suggested that the talks should be delayed until the EU receives guarantees from the US that it has stopped spying. “There can be no negotiations or transactions in any area until we have obtained these guarantees, for France but also for all of the European Union,” he said.

The EU’s institutions have not, however, received an official demand from France for the talks to be delayed, and there is scepticism that it would be possible for one member state to delay the start of negotiations.

The first round of talks on the transatlantic trade and investment partnership (TTIP) – sometimes dubbed an ‘economic NATO’ – are scheduled to begin on Monday (8 June) in Washington, DC.

Most comments so far have instead focused on the longer-term impact that the scandal could have on the prospects for an agreement on what would be the biggest free-trade deal in history.

Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament, suggested that the scandal had undermined the talks’ potential. “I feel treated as a European and a representative of a European institution like the representative of the enemy,” he said yesterday. “Is this the basis for a constructive relationship on the basis of mutual trust? I think no.”

Guy Verhofstadt, the leader of the liberal group in the Parliament, went substantially further, saying: “I cannot see how a crucial trade and investment partnership can be concluded as long as this spectre of spying hangs over us.”

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Elmar Brok, a German conservative who heads the European Parliament’s foreign-affairs committee, focused on the feasibility of a deal. “How can you negotiate when you have got to fear that your own negotiating position has been intercepted in advance?” he asked.

Hannes Swoboda, the head of the Parliament’s socialist group, suggested that the EU should re-consider whether to enter the talks. “If partners become targets, we may want to review our positions. This includes negotiations on a TTIP,” he said.

Two political groups – the liberals and the Greens – have called for the Parliament to launch an inquiry.

The scandal has also re-animated long-standing concerns within the European Parliament about co-operation with the US in areas where private data is involved. 

Rebecca Harms, a co-leader of the Green group in the European Parliament, urged the EU to “cancel” two data-sharing agreements with the US, one on bank transfers made through the Swift system and another on records of air passengers.

The European Commission says that issues related to data privacy are not part of the trade negotiations, but are, instead, being addressed separately by Viviane Reding, the European commissioner for justice and fundamental rights.