French Political Class Holds 'Outrage Contest' Over NSA Spying (Le Monde, France)
"François Hollande referred to the free trade agreement,
implying that it cannot be reached if U.S. espionage on E.U. officials did not
cease 'immediately.' ... Green member of the European Parliament Daniel Cohn-Bendit argued for the need to 'terminate all agreements'
between the E.U. and U.S., including negotiations for a free-trade deal, to
force our U.S. partners to 'negotiate an agreement on the protection of
personal data.' ... Arnaud Danjean, chairman of the
Security and Defense Subcommittee of the European Parliament, criticized 'the
European competition to be the most outraged by American espionage, which he
considers naive and 'a bit pathetic.'"
French President François Hollande triggered a wave of outrage within the French political class over NSA spying on Europe. Have the Europeans been protesting a bit too much?
The
latest revelations that America's sweeping surveillance program has also
affected European institutions provoked a wide range of political reaction in
France. Many voices, on the left and right, took the opportunity to denounce negotiations
for a transatlantic free-trade agreement between the European Union and United
States, which are due to begin this month.
On
Monday afternoon, [President] François Hollande referred to the agreement, implying that it
cannot be reached if U.S. espionage on E.U. officials did not cease
"immediately."
"There
can be no negotiations or exchanges until such a guarantee is obtained by France,
but also for the entire European Union - both of which are partners of the
United States," Hollande said.
Over
the weekend, Green member of the European Parliament
[MEP] Daniel Cohn-Bendit had the most extreme reaction, arguing Sunday for
the need to "terminate all agreements" between the European Union and
United States, including negotiations for a free-trade deal, to force our U.S.
partners to "negotiate an agreement on the protection of personal
data."
National
Front President Marine
Le Pen also called for an immediate halt to these negotiations, but added
that there is "no hope that François Hollande is capable of making"
of such a gesture. The MEP stressed that she was "the first" to demand
France grant political asylum to Edward Snowden, the whistleblower on the
diplomatic espionage as well as the surveillance by the U.S. National Security
Agency of the personal data of millions of users of various Internet services
(PRISM). The Greens and Left Party Leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon also asked that he be given asylum.
Before
the speech by Mr. Hollande, government reactions remained cautious. On Sunday, Justice
Minister ChristianeTaubira called it
an "unspeakable act of hostility." But Digital Economy Minister Fleur
Pellerin played down the importance of the affair.
"It's not exactly the first time in history this has happened," Pellerin said on Monday on BFM TV,
citing "the same type of occurrence during the war in Iraq."
However,
Ms. Pellerin said she was shocked by the
"widespread surveillance machine" exposed by the first of Edward
Snowden's leaks - the PRISM program. Questioned about the wisdom of reprisals
like a suspension of trade talks, the minister asked, "let's not mix issues
at this stage."
In
the Socialist Party, Deputy Jean-Christophe
Cambadélis, national secretary for Europe and
International Affairs, is taking a different view, calling on his blog for
negotiations to be suspended: "Europe would discredit itself if it wiped
the slate clean. If trust isn't there, there's no reason to negotiate,
"added the top socialist leader.
Eduardo RihanCypel, Socialist Party
expert MP on cyber security, sees this case as proof that "France and
Europe must arm themselves, and provide themselves the technical means to
counter penetration attempts and cyber-spying initiated by the United
States," particularly in the commercial sector.
A MEASURED
RESPONSE THE UMP
Like
Mr. Cypel, MEP Arnaud Danjean
of the Union for a Popular Movement [UMP], chairman of the Security and
DefenseSubcommittee of the European
Parliament, sees "nothing completely illogical" in the spying program,
an opportunity to revive Europe's (cyber) defenses, and calls for a "minimal
investigation." On Twitter, Danjean criticized
in passing, "the European competition to be the most outraged by American espionage,
which he considers naive and "a bit pathetic."
"This
European competition to be the most outraged by U.S. espionage is a bit
pathetic. It's as if all these officials live in la-la land. Danjean (@ ArnaudDanjean) June
30, 2013.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
Elsewhere
in the UMP, reactions were muted. Jean-François Copé,
who heads the France - U.S. Parliamentary Friendship Group, confirmed on Monday
that these acts of espionage, if confirmed, "would taint" the
relationship between Washington and the E.U., and showed, he said, a certain naiveté."
Echoing these words, former Prime Minister Francois Fillon
said in a statement that if true, the matter was "very serious."
"I
support Hollande. ... An ally does not spy on an ally, a friend does not spy on
his friends."
MP
for Yvelines, Henri Guaino,
considered that these revelations were not the "deal of the century,"
because "there is so little to spy on in Brussels." Michel Barnier,
European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services (UMP), called on Monday
for "clear and frank talks with the Americans," as did Valerie Pécresse,Associate
Secretary General of the UMP, who asked the French government to obtain
information from the U.S. government "on the volume and extent of any
collection of personal data on French citizens and French companies," under
the PRISM program.
