mr president these reports lay down the rules for europol gathering and exchanging information between eu member states and indeed third-party nations of the most personal kind about eu citizens
significantly they talk about the unauthorised disclosure of such information not disadvantaging harming or prejudicing the essential interests of europol
there is nothing about protecting the interests of the hapless innocent citizen who might get caught up in the nightmare of a europol investigation
the most personal information may be collected including sexual preferences and bank account details
this may even be shared with third-party countries including those of such outstanding democratic credentials as albania peru and the russian federation
europol is totally unnecessary from any objective point of view but the eu's subjective point of view is that it is essential to have another of those attributes of a political state its own police force
how many of the eu's reluctant citizens know that europol officers have immunity from prosecution for anything that they do or say in the course of their duties
for those of you here who have only just emerged from police states this may not be very significant but such immunity for law-enforcement officers is a concept alien to english law
as the eu creates its own judicial system with instruments such as the european arrest warrant and trials in absentia and now its own police force we in britain are seeing the destruction of our most basic and cherished liberties that have formerly protected us
every single rapporteur at least had the decency to say that these proposals should be rejected until the lisbon treaty was legally in force
if the eu had any decency there would be referenda on the lisbon treaty and none of it would ever come into force
