Pegasus: MEPs criticise lack of EU action against spyware company

Imagine that every time you take your smartphone out of your pocket, you are not alone in reading your messages, listening to your conversations, seeing your photos and videos, being able to activate your camera, your microphone or your geolocation.

This fearful spying scenario was the subject of an intense debate inside the European Parliament, where MEPs criticised the European Council and the European Commission for not following suit on the blacklisting of the Israeli spyware company NSO, as the United States has done. The United Nations is also calling for a moratorium on the sale and transfer of this technology.

MEPs held a debate on Tuesday in Strasbourg on the surveillance of politicians, prosecutors, lawyers and journalists, and other persons and entities in EU Member States using cyber surveillance software, a follow-up on the Pegasus spyware case.

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Dutch MEP Sophie In’t Veldt (Renew) criticised the Council and the Commission for not tackling the company that provided spying software to foreign governments, head-on.

“I find it remarkable that the US Government has very swiftly blacklisted NSO, stating that NSO has ‘developed and supplied software to foreign governments that used these tools to maliciously target government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists and academics... in Europe, where this is happening, the Council and the Commission have so far been silent. Yes, you have condemned the practices, but what has actually been done? Nothing.”

French MEP Philippe Lamberts (Greens) said the Pegasus scandal revealed an illegal and abusive use of cyber surveillance weapons on fellow citizens.

“It is time, more than time for the European Union to act – I can only agree with what Sophie in 't Veld has just said – and first of all for us to understand what is at stake. This is why we demand the opening of a committee of inquiry of the European Parliament, in order to shed full light on the extent of these illegal cyber-piracy practices, starting with establishing which Member States possess Pegasus or spyware equivalents. Responsibilities must be established and sanctions taken accordingly.”

Spanish MEP Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar (S&D) was unequivocal in outlining the role of “dubious democratic countries” like Hungary and Poland, to use cyber surveillance to thwart activists and journalists.

“Not only is this completely unacceptable, but the European Union has the obligation to do everything in its power to protect and guarantee the fundamental rights of Europeans, those protected by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which establishes only the privacy and confidentiality of personal data, but the rules of legality, necessity, proportionality and legality of the object, legitimacy of the objective, for any measure that may affect the fundamental rights of citizens and of any person to whom it is European law applies.”

French minister for Europe, Clement Beaune, said the use of surveillance software for mobile phones was “obviously unacceptable and it must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.”

“The use of surveillance measures can only be an exceptional measure and the use of surveillance measures in question here constitutes such an intrusion into private life, that the highest and strictest guarantees must be respected...

“A journalist, in particular, must always feel safe in Europe to contact a source and carry out his investigative work. A political opponent must always be able to express his opinions. A human rights activist must always be able to feel able to defend his causes, far from any political, public or private pressure or interference.”

European Commissioner for justice, Didier Reynders, said any attempt by national security services to illegally access the data of individuals, be they lawyers, journalists, prosecutors, civil society activists or political opponents, was unacceptable.

“Of course, new technologies can play an essential role for the police force and for the judiciary, but on condition that they are only used in a manner that is proportionate and in accordance with all applicable law. National security cannot constitute a blank check to override the fundamental rights of Europeans. The media must be able to work freely, independently and without fear of reprisals, anywhere in the European Union. A free political opposition is crucial for democracy.”

EU Member States alone can define their essential security interests and oversee and control their security services but they must fully respect fundamental rights, including privacy and the protection of personal data.

Reynders said the EC will monitor the implementation of a recommendation for Member States to, upon request, assist journalists who want to determine whether their devices or online accounts have been compromised, in obtaining the services of cybersecurity forensic investigators.