The Council of Justice and Home Affairs of the European Union agreed at a meeting held on 1 and 2 December on the position to adopt in the scope of the retention of communications traffic data. It proposes to reach until the end of 2005 an agreement with the European Parliament on the draft directive presented by the European Commission on the conservation of data handled in connection with the offer of publicly available electronic communications services, thereby altering Directive 2002/58/EC.
The position was adopted by a qualified majority of 22 of the 25 Member States and stands, among other relevant items, for the retention of (Internet access, e-mail and telephone calls using the Internet) communications traffic data for a minimum period of 6 months and a maximum of 12 months, leaving to the Member States the definition of the serious criminal offenses that can justify the request of the retained data by the competent national judicial authorities.
The Council has been debating the adoption of a framework-decision on this matter since April last year, however without reaching the unanimity needed for its approval. The European Commission presented in the meanwhile, on 21 September last, a draft directive with different solutions, namely with lower retention periods. On 24 November, the Parliamentary Committee on Civic Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs approved the report on the Commission’s draft directive, which will be debated in the Parliament’s plenary meeting, before the end of 2005, proposing changes, namely regarding cost compensation for data retention.
The main differing issues between the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament, in the scope of the future normative framework on this matter, are the retention of data on calls made but not answered, the periods of retention and the compensation for data retention costs. However, there are other relevant issues, such as the protection of the electronic communications service users’ privacy and the types of criminal offences covered.
Related information on ANACOM's website:
- Proposal for a Directive on the retention of communications traffic data https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=296882
- EU - European Union https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=66653
