BRITAIN: British proposals for EU-wide agreement on the storage of mobile telephone and e-mail traffic appeared to have stalled last night amid a barrage of criticism of the plan by the industry.
The European Telecommunications Network Operators Association (ETNO) claimed a proposal requiring companies to record the location of callers was currently outlawed under European law, and that the cost of the data retention scheme would stretch to hundreds of millions of pounds. British home secretary Charles Clarke was forced to admit that what he called this "tricky political question" had not been resolved during yesterday's summit of European interior ministers in Newcastle.
Home office sources had confirmed in advance that the two-day meeting, being held under the British presidency, was an informal rather than a decision-making event, and that no significant developments were expected. However, there was speculation that Mr Clarke had been hoping to secure agreement with his fellow ministers on this specific plan, which the British government hopes will become law by the end of the year.
As the Newcastle discussions got under way, Mr Clarke expressed confidence that concerns raised by some member states - about both cost and the invasion of civil liberties - would be overcome over two days of talking. "We do not think either of those [ concerns] are justified, although we understand them," he said.
But while EU ministers continue their consideration of the various options, Mr Clarke was forced to admit that political hurdles remain to be overcome. He repeated that under the British proposal, no record would be kept of the content of telephone conversations, while pressing all 25 member states to force mobile phone firms to retain records for at least a year, including numbers dialled, the time and duration of calls made, and the location of the caller throughout and at the conclusion of a call.
The UK is also keen that companies should log calls when the line is busy or where a call is unanswered, on the grounds that unanswered calls could be a signal to detonate bombs. And Mr Clarke stressed the role mobile phone records had played in the investigations into the Madrid and London bombings.
However, ETNO director Michael Bartholomew, who briefed the EU interior ministers in Newcastle, suggested this was an unsophisticated approach to a complex problem.
"Storing the location of callers is currently outlawed under European data protection measures," he said. "The implications of this total package are very considerable and it seems to me that we're talking about millions of euros on a pan-European basis."