mr president i should like to welcome my former colleague and good friend cecilia malmström
it is a pleasure to see you here
this is a first key decision for the european parliament to take with its new lisbon powers and expectations are high but we need to keep a clear head
we owe it to our citizens to make a well-considered decision free from outside pressures or scare tactics such as false claims of a security gap because data and we know this can still be obtained by the us without disagreement
let us not forget that the member states were not unanimous on this agreement either
we can only give our consent to an agreement that has full democratic legitimacy on grounds of substance and procedure
this is not about a battle of wills between the council and the european parliament nor is it about transatlantic relations
this is about european citizens being entitled to a proper democratic and transparent procedure
the answers of the council so far are utterly inadequate and the democratic rights of european citizens cannot be bargained away with promises of trips to the us or vague promises by the council for future agreements
the council has had countless opportunities since two thousand and seven to handle this in a proper manner and ensure security as well as protection of personal data and civil liberties or ensure proper democratic scrutiny by national parliaments or since one december the european parliament but the council has been incredibly stubborn
parliament cannot and should not take a decision if it does not have access to all relevant information and documents
our voters have a right to know that we consider all elements very seriously and that we do not simply rubber-stamp council decisions
finally the european parliament has been very clear for years about its concerns and expectations and instead of coming up with more vague promises the council should finally provide us with the opinion of its legal service and the requested information demonstrating the use of the data for counter-terrorism purposes
i do not consider that the second bruguière report is sufficient
so if the council wants the consent of this house it will have to meet our demands
that council is the only way
