EU violates people’s fundamental rights

 Statement by Stavri Kalopsidiotou, member of the C.C. of AKEL, on the decision of the EU Court of Justice concerning the violation of citizen’s fundamental rights 

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 10th April 2014, Nicosia

 

The decision of the European Court of Justice the day before yesterday ruled as null and void the EU Directive 2006/24 on the retention and monitoring of telephone and Internet communications between citizens. This is the Directive which through its incorporation in the legislation of Member States has led to the reinforcement of the electronic filing of all citizens without exception. In reality, this Directive imposes on telephone and internet companies the retention of our conversations for a given period.

From the first moment this Directive was submitted to us in the form of a draft in the European Parliament, AKEL reacted, together with the political group of the Left. We adopted the same principled position in Cyprus too during the procedure to transpose the Directive into Cyprus legislation. By voting against, AKEL reacted to the evident illegal basis of this Directive. We consider, and still consider, that such legislation violates human rights and freedoms. Furthermore, AKEL believes that crime and terrorism are not combated by treating citizens as potential suspects in their entirety.

Eight years after its approval, and four years since its implementation, the position that only AKEL defended in Cyprus, has been confirmed by the ruling of the European Court: “The directive for the storage of personal date constitutes a very serious interference in the fundamental rights, in particular with regards the respect for private life and the protection of personal data”

Consequently, AKEL supports the immediate withdrawal of the Directive and legislation which the Republic of Cyprus implements.

We point out that a number of other Directives and EU decisions violate fundamental rights, such as the use of citizen’s biometric data, information and data on travel and in general the storing and retention of personal data, but also political decisions as well, such as the haircut on bank deposits and pension funds.

In the light of yesterday’s ruling of the European Court of Justice, we call on in particular those forces who blindly and uncritically approve every European Union legislation and policy – regardless of its content – to reflect on where things are being led to, both with regards freedoms and at the level of the economy too.