mr president there is always a delicate balance to be drawn between civil liberties and security
several times since the twin tower attacks nine years ago i think we have got that balance wrong
we have got it wrong because of a false equation in politics whereby politicians think that their action needs to be in proportion to the extent of public outrage rather than in proportion to the need to remedy an identified problem
this chamber has made that mistake but it has not been alone
national parliaments have done the same thing on both sides of the atlantic
on this occasion though i believe we have got the balance right
we have taken our time we have put in sensible safeguards and i think that we are enabling the security forces of the world to collaborate effectively in the fight against terror without an unacceptable price in terms of civic freedom
this is exactly the kind of thing the european union should concentrate on a cross-border issue which cannot be left to the member states
if it did this kind of thing all the time the rest of us would not have such a problem
