Reding in Washington: EU Sends Tough Commissioner for NSA Talks

[unhappycamper]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/eu-sends-tough-justice-commissioner-reding-for-nsa-talks-in-us-a-934168.html



EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding says data protection in Europe is 'non-negotiable.'

Reding in Washington: EU Sends Tough Commissioner for NSA Talks
By Sebastian Fischer and Gregor Peter Schmitz
November 18, 2013 – 12:44 PM

When the European Union wants to signal that it's serious about an issue, it dispatches Viviane Reding. And that's exactly the plan for Monday, when the tough EU justice commissioner is set to meet with her counterpart, Attorney General Eric Holder, in Washington to discuss the consequences of the National Security Agency (NSA) spying scandal.

Reding, who is from Luxembourg, has a reputation in the US capital for being a formidable opponent. Her decisive attempts to ensure that Europeans enjoy the same rights to data protection as US citizens have not necessarily been welcome, though. "If Reding wants to continue keeping big US companies away from Europe, then she shouldn't be surprised if Europe is soon as isolated as North Korea," one high-level person working on trans-Atlantic issues said.

But ahead of the meeting with Holder, Reding's resolve remained unbroken. "Data protection is a fundamental right in Europe," she told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "Fundamental rights are non-negotiable. Period."

Due to the misuse of personal data by the US intelligence agency, the trans-Atlantic relationship is mired in a true crisis of confidence, she added. "The Americans' approach has been shocking. I'm on a fact-finding mission in Washington. Are the Americans ready to restore lost trust? Are they prepared to see us as partners instead of opponents?"

[DetlefK]

1. "If Reding wants to continue keeping big US companies away from Europe..." ???

Breaking News: The Cold War is over and the EU isn't South-America. For a country famous for its fetish for abstract freedom, the US seems eerily obsessed with putting money over implemented freedom.

[Pholus]

2. Unsurprising: unnamed "high-level" persons wanna snark...

instead of solve problems.

Look, Mr/Ms "High-Level" Genius, we all saw the problem coming in June.

NSA Surveillance Threatens US Competitiveness

And surprise it's still a problem. Worse, your tech company allies just woke up and realized that you're perving on them right now too, PLUS they're footing the bill overseas with higher costs and more regulation.

Profit, Not Just Principle, Has Tech Firms Concerned With NSA

So you know how this works. Your actual constituents are getting mad. If you want to keep that cushy six-figure job with the soon-to-come seven figure consulting/lobbying gig, you better figure out how to just make it go away.

Personally, I would suggest that you just stop perving but I realize it's probably addicting like crack to be up in other people's business so it's hard to stop.

Try the patch!