THE WEEK THAT WAS... (July 02, 2013)

According to the German leading weekly Der Spiegel, the US National Security Agency (NSA) is spying in EU representatives offices in Washington DC and in the New York UN buildings. The newsmagazine also suggested that the Brussels’ Justus Lipsius building is similarly targeted. ‘Justus Lipsius’ lodges the headquarters of the European Council including the office of its President Van Rompuy and is the place where on daily base the permanent representatives (ambassadors) of the EU memberstates meet each other for negotiations. At least four times a year, during the so called EU Summits, the 28 EU heads of state and government leaders meet in the same building.

The loudest condemnation came from Germany: Der Spiegel reported that Germany had been a significant target of the NSA, with thousands of communications monitored each day. Viviane Reding, EU Justice Commissioner, said on Sunday: ‘The leak of these latest allegations into the public domain could damage the relations between the EU and the US. Partners do not spy on each other. We cannot negotiate over a big trans-Atlantic market if there is the slightest doubt that our partners are carrying out spying activities on the offices of our negotiators. The American authorities should eliminate any such doubt swiftly’.

Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the leader of the EP Greens, spoke for many when he said that the EU ‘must immediately suspend negotiations with the US over a free trade agreement. We need first a deal on data protection so that something like this never happens again’. President Francois Hollande suggested also that talks on a new trans-Atlantic trade pact, scheduled to start next week, should be delayed, ‘we can only have negotiations once we have obtained guarantees’.

It is clear that European politicians across the political spectrum are losing confidence in the Obama administration. That would make a free trade deal difficult…