§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the competence of(a) the EU and (b) Governments of member states in surveillance and interception-related matters. [155468]
§ Mr. Vaz[holding answer 26 March 2001]Directive 97/66/EC concerning the Processing of Personal Data and the Protection of Privacy in the Telecommunications Sector deals with certain issues relating to the confidentiality of communications and is implemented in the United Kingdom by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. This Directive was made under Article 95 TEC (previously Article 100a) which provides for legislation for the establishment and functioning of the Internal Market.
The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 also implements the relevant provisions of the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters between the member states of the European Union.