The European Union is laying the foundation for an agreement that will allow law enforcement officials to eavesdrop on Internet, fax and mobile phone conversations and will force the communications providers to foot the bill.
The plan, known as Enfopol 98, was tabled behind closed doors by the European Justice and Home Affairs Council in December. Its purpose is to combat serious crime, such as drug trafficking, child abuse and terrorism.
But it has been criticised by the Green Party MEP, Ms Patricia McKenna, for what she described as its "unacceptable" secrecy. "This has not been discussed in either the European Parliament or in the parliaments of the member countries," she said.
What concerns MEPs is that there is no clear definition of what constitutes a serious crime, and that law enforcement officials do not have to obtain a court order before an interception.
"Anybody or any company involved in any crime can be tapped," said Mr Tony Bunyan, director of Statewatch, the London-based civil liberties group. "It's simply at the discretion of the police officer concerned."
Enfopol will enable police to track and record email and mobile phone calls across international boundaries through real-time remote access points or backdoors.
For instance, Internet service providers must provide police forces with access to their computer systems so that they can track email traffic.
The agreement also includes a memorandum of understanding between Europe, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway. So law enforcement officials from any of these states can eavesdrop on each other's citizens.
In a parliamentary question time earlier this month, Ms McKenna asked the Justice Commission to debate the matter openly before agreeing to measures that will have such a widespread impact on the privacy of EU citizens.
"I also asked the Commission what exact legal redress is available to citizens should they wish to challenge these rules," said Ms McKenna. "But I did not get an answer."
Enfopol is similar to the controversial US wire-tap legislation known as the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act or CALEA. Because of its controversial nature, CALEA has been languishing on the desk of the US Federal Communications Commission since 1994.
The legislation, developed with the assistance of the FBI, will be part of the EU's Draft Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance.
Commission officials told the Parliament on January 12th that Enfopol was simply a technical update to 1995 EU terrestrial wiretap legislation. However, the extraordinary powers afforded by new technology and the inclusion of nonEuropean states gives this legislation a wider scope than any previous law.
"We only know about this because the Enfopol 98 document was leaked to a German Internet magazine Telepolis," said Ms McKenna.
Under the current plan Internet service providers and the operators of satellite based telecommunications companies such as Iridium and Globalstar must also track targets where ever they travel.
They must give police the target's full name, address and account details such as credit card and personal identification numbers.
The agreement will operate on the principle that all encrypted messages should be capable of being broken.
"I have no objection to the police force monitoring serious criminals," said Mr Glyn Ford, a British Labour MEP and a member of EU's Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs Committees. "But what is missing here is accountability, clear guidelines as to who they can listen to and in what circumstances these laws apply."
At present police are required to obtain permission in each country they wish to monitor and are therefore accountable to the local judicial system.
"I don't think there is anybody in England or Ireland who could not think of several cases where the police abused their power," said Mr Bunyan.
