BRUSSELS
An EU-US trade deal could be in jeopardy unless the US respects EU citizens' data privacy, the Civil Liberties Committe said in a report on Wednesday.
Unless mass surveillance activities in EU institutions and diplomatic representations are halted, the European Parliament could reject the final Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which could add as much as $130 billion to the US economy and 119 billion euros to the European economy, according to the US Chamber of Commerce.
The proposal by Members of the European Parliament comes after National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked files in 2013. The files contained details on disclosed details about the NSA's illegal surveillance activities, which caused outrage amongst many of the US' key Western allies.
The parliamentarians suggest in the report that Europe should develop its own cloud and IT solutions to ensure a high standard of personal data protection.
The EU parliament also asked the countries involved in the spying and surveillance activities to review their codes' compatibility with EU laws.
The report urges the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Poland -- countries facing allegations of mass surveillance -- to make sure their intelligence services and telecom firms comply with EU laws.
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