In a statement issued on Thursday, the Danish Presidency rejected recent claims by UK civil liberties group Statewatch that the EU has tabled a proposal for binding rules on data retention.
Statewatch said that the proposed legislation would oblige telecoms providers to store traffic data for up to two years, and that such data would be collected in central databases in order to be made available to all Member States.
The Presidency confirmed the existence of the proposal. However, it said that the proposal only contained “a request that, within the very near future, binding rules should be established on the approximation of Member States’ rules on the obligation of telecommunications services providers to keep information… in order to ensure that such information is available when it is of significance for a criminal investigation.”
The Presidency further claimed that the proposal “contains no detailed indications as to what the contents of such rules should be”, but emphasises that such regulation should be established taking account of EU privacy and human rights legislation.
The Danish Presidency said that there are no further proposals on the table regarding data retention, and that it is not engaged in drafting such proposals. It added that, had the media consulted the Presidency in advance, the misunderstandings “could have been avoided.”