The USA must agree to change its law and halt all ‘data mining’ from ‘phone and internet use in the EU.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have backed Green demands for the immediate suspension of talks leading to a proposed new trade deal between the European Union (EU) and the USA after an investigation found ‘overwhelming evidence’ of a programme of mass surveillance of EU citizens by US security forces.

Members of the Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee said the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Programme (TTIP) should not be pursued – at least until the USA agrees to change its law and halt all ‘data mining’ from ‘phone and internet use in the EU.

The investigation, set up by the committee after whistleblower Edward Snowden lifted the lid on the US PRISM project which monitors and records EU citizens’ telephone and internet usage, condemned PRISM, which, it said ‘may entail a breach of EU citizens’ fundamental rights’.

In October 2013, US whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked two top secret US government spying programs under which the NSA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are eavesdropping on millions of American and European phone records and the Internet data from major internet companies such as Facebook, Yahoo, Google, Apple and Microsoft.

The NSA scandal took even broader dimensions when Snowden revealed information about its espionage activities targeting friendly countries and phone calls from 35 international leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Documents leaked by Snowden showed that Britain has also been operating a covert listening post within a stone’s throw of Germany’s parliament and Merkel’s offices in the Chancellery, using hi-tech equipment housed on the embassy roof.

The Committee has called for an end to all mass surveillance, observing that privacy is not a luxury, but a fundamental right in a free and democratic society.

The Greens then called for European Union’s action to go further, establishing a ‘Digital Declaration of Independence’, ensuring that no data is collected – without express permission – on any EU citizens’ internet or ‘phone use, and that the EU ends all co-operation with the US unless and until it changes its law to prohibit all mass surveillance.

They also called for the EU states to offer asylum to Edward Snowden and any other US ‘whistleblowers’ shedding light on US spying activities in the EU.

Jean Lambert, London’s Green MEP and a member of the Civil Liberties Committee which conducted the investigation, said: “The US has behaved abominably here – and the EU must defend the rights of its citizens from this unwarranted attack on their basic human rights.

“More and more of us are using the internet, and smartphones, to access basic goods and services, and we really must be able to do so without our privacy being breached.

“We must [also] offer protection to everyone who sheds light on these activities, and end negotiations on TTIP, at least until the US has guaranteed such a blanket approach to hoovering up data will never be used again.”

Germany and France have planned to discuss building up a European communication network to avoid data passing through the United States.

Merkel has been pushing for greater email and data protection following the reports about Washington’s mass surveillance program.

Ahead of her visit to France for negotiations with French President Francois Hollande this week, Merkel said: “We’ll talk about European providers that offer security for our citizens, so that one shouldn’t have to send emails and other information across the Atlantic. Rather, one could build up a communication network inside Europe.”

“We’ve got to do more for data protection in Europe, there’s no doubt about it,” she said.

The European Parliament as a whole will vote on the Green proposals when it considers the investigation report next month.