mr president it is always uncomfortable when any member state has its internal situation scrutinised
i want to say in the same spirit that mrs wallis indicated that my own government in the united kingdom was investigated for its operation of rendition taking people to be tortured allegedly
this of course was very uncomfortable for me and for my government in the united kingdom but i took part actively in that investigation because it was necessary to do it in a european-wide way
why
and why are we here today discussing the internal interception arrangements of the bulgarian government
not because of bulgaria but because we are a community of values
as a community of values the issue is that raised by the commissioner i quote that interception must be used exceptionally
while not a great lawyer like mrs wallis i am a lawyer and i know that you must only use interception exceptionally
it is one of those things which if used in an unnecessary inappropriate or disproportionate way instead of becoming an aid to the attack on organised crime which is very important in bulgaria and elsewhere in the european union becomes a weapon of the state
it does not matter which political party is originating this debate to move from discussing an attack on organised crime to using an instrument of the state disproportionately is a very serious matter for the european union and it is not exclusive today to bulgaria
tomorrow it may be another member state
i genuinely looked into all the sources and figures and i would ask colleagues across the parties in this house is there anyone who is saying that an inappropriate or disproportionate use of interception was or was not used
if you want to dispute the figures used by mr swoboda is anyone disputing that a disproportionate use of interception has happened
i have looked at many sources before speaking today because we have to speak carefully about such issues
i have not seen anyone on any side of the debate saying disproportionate use has not happened
for that reason the commission must investigate this
