I wrote a diary yesterday with my view of the consequences for TAFTA due to the PRISM and Tempora [The USA and UK respectively] programs. I was not the only one making such connections.
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Who is this Martin Schultz you might ask.
Just the President of the European Parliament
France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius also had something to say.
“These acts, if confirmed, would be completely unacceptable,” Fabius said in a statement. “We expect the American authorities to answer the legitimate concerns raised by these press revelations as quickly as possible.”
The Germans are far from content having been subjected to spying programs before
Some say TAFTA will be decided by self interest, one of those self interests is trust.
“Partners do not spy on each other,” the European commissioner for justice and fundamental rights, Viviane Reding, said at a public event in Luxembourg on Sunday.
“We cannot negotiate over a big transatlantic market if there is the slightest doubt that our partners are carrying out spying activities on the offices of our negotiators,” Reding said in comments passed on to reporters by her spokeswoman.
For those of you trying to deflect the conversation to Snowden and Greenwald rather than the reality of the data released and the actions taken under the PRISM and Tempora programs I say, that boat has sailed long ago.
Some serious and sincere explanations now need to become forthcoming from both the British and US governments. Europe is not the US [not even close]; and spying by governments in the past is remembered by many across the continent with dread.
5:21 AM PT: Spiegel Online new article
http://www.spiegel.de/...
"This is a very serious problem for the trans-Atlantic relationship," said Heather Conley, director of the Europe program for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "It will make Washington's work with Europe more difficult on a full range of issues, such as (the trans-Atlantic free trade agreement). Add this to a pre-election environment (in Germany) and the challenge becomes greater."
6:36 AM PT: Phew everything is fine, nothing to worry about G W Bush has given his assurances
"I put that program in place to protect the country," Bush said in an interview with CNN. "One of the certainties was that civil liberties were guaranteed."
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/...
Phew now I can sleep peacefully.