A proposal from four European Union member states to log all phone and Internet usage for long periods to help combat terrorism is unrealistic, a top European Commission official said today.
Britain, supported by Ireland, France and Sweden, has led calls for EU governments to agree new rules among themselves, excluding the parliament and the commission, as London fears the two EU institutions could slow down decision-making.
The commission is working on its own proposal for harmonising rules on data retention amid institutional rivalry that last week's London bombings has apparently done nothing to diminish.
“The (UK-led) proposal for a framework decision is unrealistic,” Fabio Colasanti, director general of the Brussels executive's information society and media division, told journalists.
He said the assumption that vast amounts of data could be stored and accessed easily should be questioned. Terrorists would also quickly find other ways to communicate without leaving an electronic trail.
After March 2004 Madrid bombings which killed 191 people, the four countries proposed that telecommunications data should be stored compulsorily for a minimum of one year. Phone records were the key to tracking down the Madrid bombers.
The commission has recommended a period of six months to a year to reduce the storage cost for companies.
The EU executive is expected to present its own proposal for harmonising the rules for storing telephone, mobile and e-mail records across the 25-nation bloc next week.
But EU president Britain wants the bloc's justice ministers to discuss its plan tomorrow, with the aim of getting agreement this year after the attacks on London last week increased pressure on states to act.
The commission has maintained in recent weeks that any proposal should come from the executive and that it requires the assent of the European Parliament as well as member states.
This would take longer than a quick deal among member governments. But such a deal would be open to less public scrutiny and compliance would only be policed nationally.
Neither proposal calls for the content of electronic communications to be recorded, but investigators want to be able to trace numbers dialled, including unsuccessful calls, and Internet addresses accessed.