The United States federal government should cease its surveillance of foreign diplomats in the United States and at United States embassies



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impact – TTIP



Surveillance scandals destroy TTIP negotiations


Gold Coast Bulletin 13 – (7/2/13, “EU fury at surveillance claims,” The Gold Coast Bulletin [Southport, Qld] 02 July 2013: 15, ProQuest) //twemchen

BRUSSELS: A trade deal between the European Union and the United States could be at risk over claims Washington bugged EU offices. It is the latest spying claim attributed to fugitive intelligence analyst Edward Snowden. Revelations that the US also targeted the Washington embassies of France, Italy and Greece look set to further strain relations. Brussels, Paris and Berlin reacted angrily to a report of surveillance by the US National Security Agency on EU diplomatic missions.


Spying allegations block Trans-Atlantic trade deal – mistrust over negotiations


McGeough 13 (Paul, “US actions spook European allies,” Sydney Morning Herald, 7-1-13, http://www.smh.com.au/world/us-actions-spook-european-allies-20130701-2p7f8.html) //AD

As Washington makes headway in its bid to narrow asylum options for the fugitive leaker Edward Snowden, more in the whistleblower's cluster-bomb of revelations are prompting global anger and disbelief – the extent to which the US spies on its allies in Europe and beyond. The import of sensational weekend reports by the German magazine Der Spiegel and The Guardian in Britain amounts to this: Washington's industrial-scale snooping is embedded in the phone, internet and computer services of 38 foreign embassies in Washington and at the United Nations in New York; the European Union is hacked and bugged in both cities, but even on its home turf in the Belgian capital Brussels, US spies run an eavesdropping operation on the EU's headquarters; and getting special attention is Germany, where the NSA hoovers up as many as 500 million communications, by phone and internet each month. Describing various bugs and their concealment along with the use of specialised antennas, one of the documents quoted by Der Spiegel states: “We can attack the signals of most foreign and third-class partners, and we do it too.” American allies among the countries whose embassies are listed as "targets" include: France, Italy, Greece, India, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and Turkey. Each embassy seemed to be a self-contained surveillance operation with its own name, according to The Guardian. Listening to the French at the UN was "Blackfoot" and in Washington was "Wabash". The Italian embassy in Washington had two names – "Bruneau" and "Hemlock". Suggesting that the former contract intelligence worker Snowden has put in place an elaborate country-by-country plan of leaks to cause maximum diplomatic embarrassment for the US, the German magazine referred to its weekend reports as the start of a series. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been working with Snowden, confirmed as much when he told a US TV news report: “There's no stopping the publishing process at this stage – great care has been taken to make sure that Mr Snowden can't be pressured by any state to stop the publication process.” The Obama administration had little to say on the reports. But Michael Hayden, a former head of both the CIA and the NSA who often fills the void in the absence of a White House talking-head, struck a jarring note on CBS' Face the Nation. In what seemed to add up to an admission of sorts and a "get real, boys" dig at Washington's allies, Hayden said: “No 1: The US does not conduct espionage. No 2: Our Fourth Amendment, which protects Americans' privacy, is not an international treaty. No 3: Any European who wants to go out and rend their garments with regard to international espionage, should look first and find out what their own governments are doing.” The first target of European anger at the revelations could be ambitious negotiations for a trans-Atlantic trade pact worth hundreds of billions of dollars. The first substantive talks on the deal are scheduled to get under way in the coming weeks. EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding reportedly told a Luxembourg meeting: “We can't negotiate over a big trans-Atlantic market if there is the slightest doubt that our partners are carrying out spying activities on the offices of our negotiators.” Amid angry comparisons of US spying with the work of the hated Stasi in post-World War II East Germany and claims that Washington has reverted to the worst conduct of the Cold War, there were calls for the talks to be postponed, pending Washington explaining itself.

Spying scandal decks EU relations- resolving it is a prerequisite to TTIP negotiations


Krause 13- secretary general of the Anglo-American Press Association in Paris (Axel, “The U.S. Spying Saga: Europe’s Anger, Washington’s Cool and Compromise,” transAtlantic Magazine, 7/07/13, http://transatlantic-magazine.com/the-u-s-spying-saga-europes-anger-washingtons-cool-and-compromise/) //AD

Last weekend’s bombshell report by Germany’s Der Spiegel – stating it had seen documents showing that the National Security Agency was spying on European Union and diplomatic offices primarily in Washington, Brussels and New York – touched off not only angry protests throughout Europe. But a threat by France’s president, among others, to block the planned start Monday of negotiations for the new trans-Atlantic trade agreement until Washington agreed to credible data-protection guarantees. During the past few days, European sources have been telling us that, in varying degrees, we were witnessing the emergence of one of the most potentially-damaging episodes in the postwar history of trans-Atlantic relations, fueled in part by widespread disappointment with President Barack Obama over the administration’s, guarded, defensive-offensive response to the saga, which is continuing. “The Iraq (war) crisis (2003) was the worst, with the possible exception of Suez (1956) and this crisis could get worse, but indirectly as a result of the potential crippling of the trade pact,” known as the TTIP, commented Francois Heisbourg, one of France’s leading analysts of trans-Atlantic strategic issues. Indeed, there were signs earlier this week that the pact negotiatons in Washington were heading for postponement. In firm, menacing terms, President Francois Hollande said “we cannot accept this kind of behavior between partners and allies,,” and that American spying should “immediately stop.” Referring to the TTIP talks, he added we can only have negotiations, transactions, in all areas once we have obtained these guarantees (from Washington) for France, but that goes for the whole European Union…” Therefore, Mr. Hollande and his advisers urged, the start of talks should be delayed for several weeks in order to give the administration time to provide the EU detailed information on its spying program; a similar plea was made by outspoken E.U. Justice Minister Viviane Reding. In Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel in somewhat milder terms, said through her spokesman that “the monitoring of friends – this is unacceptable. It cannot be tolerated. We are no longer in the Cold War…trust has to be re-established.” And while Germany’s influential Suddeutsche Zeitung also urged that the TTIP talks be delayed “until the matter is resolved,” it cautioned that a postponement “would also be to the detrement of Europe,” given that huge stakes for expanding U.S.-EU trade in the next few years.

Bugging incident threatens TTIP negotiations- officials question US-EU relations


Llana 13- Monitor's European Bureau Chief based in Paris, masters in journalism from Columbia University, BA in history from the University of Michigan (Sara Miller, “Has NSA spying put US-EU trade deal on the rocks? Revelations of broad US surveillance of EU offices, particularly in Germany, have angered Europe,” Christian Science Monitor, 7/01/13, http://www.csmonitor.com/World/terrorism-security/2013/0701/Has-NSA-spying-put-US-EU-trade-deal-on-the-rocks) //AD

Revelations that the United States has systematically spied on Europe are threatening what is being billed as a pivotal moment for the transatlantic relationship: the start of negotiations next week for a major trade deal. The latest disclosures from Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor, came in a report over the weekend in the German daily Der Spiegel, alleging that the NSA bugged European Union offices and that half a billion phone calls, e-mails, and text messages from Germany alone are tapped by the US in an average month – far surpassing the average attention given to other European allies. In fact, Germany is spied on just as often as China or Iraq, the paper claims. If the extent of US surveillance in the world is not surprising to some, it’s still controversial in Europe, especially in countries like Germany that place a high priority on data privacy. But the timing of the revelations, as negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) are set to begin July 8, has created a firestorm, says Johannes Thimm, an expert on US foreign policy at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin. “There are economic interests involved on both sides, and while the [TTIP] is generally in the spirit of cooperation, there are some trade-offs and really hard negotiations ahead,” Dr. Thimm says. American ability to access that communication as it is playing out, he says, gives the US “a huge strategic advantage." The Spanish daily El Pais quoted a slew of EU officials voicing their outrage. The European commissioner for justice and fundamental rights, Viviane Reding, said plainly: "Partners do not spy on each other," she said. "We cannot negotiate over a big transatlantic market if there is the slightest doubt that our partners are carrying out spying activities on the offices of our negotiators.” The European Parliament's foreign affairs committee head, Elmar Brok, reiterated that view. "The spying has taken on dimensions that I would never have thought possible from a democratic state," he told Der Spiegel. "How should we still negotiate if we must fear that our negotiating position is being listened to beforehand?" The anger has generated not only threats that the TTIP is at risk, but that a cloud looms over the entire transatlantic relationship. Germany Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said the fact that “our friends in the US see Europeans as enemies exceeds the imaginable.” The president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, said that “if this is true, it’s an immense scandal that could have a severe impact on relations between the EU and the US.”

Spying crisis casts shadow on relations- trust issues displace trade negotiations


Huffington Post 13 (Ned Simons, “Prism And Bugging Allegations 'Throw A Shadow' Over EU-US Relations,” Huffington Post UK, 7/03/13, http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/03/european-america-spying-prism-bugging_n_3541253.html) //AD

Allegations that American intelligence agencies spied on its missions in Washington and New York "throws a shadow" over relations between the European Union and the United States, the European Commission has said. Addressing MEP's in the European Parliament on Wednesday afternoon, justice commission Viviane Reding suggested the allegations could put the potential trade deal between Brussels and Washington at risk. "It throws a shadow on the mutual trust which is indispensable in the relations between partners and allies," she said. "There needs to be confidence, there needs to be clarity among the negotiating partners." "The message is clear - the fact that the programmes are said to be related to national security does not mean that anything goes." The French and German governments have also reacted with fury to a report in Germany's Der Spiegel which alleged the American National Security Agency (NSA) had been spying on EU offices. The information is believed to have been supplied by whistleblower Edward Snowden who leaked a series of documents to The Guardian and The Washington Post detailing the NSA's surveillance programme. Reding told MEP's that she had also written to William Hague to protest about allegations Britain's GCHQ spy agency has been running an extensive internet survellience programme codenamed Tempora. "Privacy is a fundamental right and it as such not negotiable," she said. "The debate on Prism only reinforced the fact many expect Europe to set a gold standard for data protection." Speaking during a debate in the parliament, MEPs expressed outrage at the accusations that the US has been spying on the EU's diplomatic buildings in America. Manfred Weber, a German member of the parliament's justice committee, said European "trust has been shaken" by the claims. "What our American friends have been up to is unacceptable, you don't spy on your friends, you don't spy en masse on citizens of friendly states," he said. Dimitrios Droutsas, a former Greek foreign minister, said the White House needed to provide explanations to the European population on Prism. "If this information is proved true the US must immediately put an end to these practices," he said. Addressing the planned free trade agreement, he said: "EU investments and trade agreements require respect of rights. As long as these are not being respected it's really very difficult to see the opening of discussions and negotiations towards these kind of agreements

Bugging risks severe damage to relations- “reminiscent of the Cold War”


CNN 13 (Josh Levs and Catherine E. Shoichet, “Europe furious, 'shocked' by report of U.S. spying,” CNN, 7/01/13, http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/30/world/europe/eu-nsa) //AD

European officials reacted with fury Sunday to a report that the U.S. National Security Agency spied on EU offices. The European Union warned that if the report is accurate, it will have tremendous repercussions. "I am deeply worried and shocked about the allegations," European Parliament President Martin Schulz said in a statement. "If the allegations prove to be true, it would be an extremely serious matter which will have a severe impact on EU-US relations. On behalf of the European Parliament, I demand full clarification and require further information speedily from the U.S. authorities with regard to these allegations." German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger "said if the accusations were true, it was reminiscent of the Cold War," ministry spokesman Anders Mertzlufft said, adding that the minister "has asked for an immediate explanation from the United States." French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius called for a swift explanation from American authorities. "These acts, if they are confirmed, would be absolutely unacceptable," he said in a statement. The outrage from European officials over the weekend was the latest fallout since Edward Snowden, a former National Security Agency computer contractor, started spilling details of U.S. surveillance programs to reporters earlier this month. Citing information from secret documents obtained by Snowden, the German news magazine Der Spiegel reported Sunday that several U.S. spying operations targeted European Union leaders. Der Spiegel said it had "in part seen" documents from Snowden that describe how the National Security Agency bugged EU officials' Washington and New York offices and conducted an "electronic eavesdropping operation" that tapped into a EU building in Brussels, Belgium. The magazine's report also says that NSA spying has targeted telephone and Internet connection data in Germany more than any other European nation. An average of up to 20 million phone connections and 10 million Internet data connections are surveyed daily, Der Spiegel said, noting that the intensity of surveillance puts the U.S. ally on par with China, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Another report Sunday claimed that surveillance extended beyond European offices. The Guardian newspaper reported that one NSA document leaked by Snowden describes 38 embassies and missions as "targets" and details surveillance methods that include planting bugs in communications equipment and collecting transmissions with specialized antennae. Targets included France, Italy, Greece, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, India and Turkey, according to The Guardian.

Surveillance allegations hamper all negotiations- officials call for answers


Guardian 13 (Ian Traynor, Louise Osborne, Jamie Doward, “Key US-EU trade pact under threat after more NSA spying allegations,” theguardian, 6/30/13, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/30/nsa-spying-europe-claims-us-eu-trade) //AD

The prospects for a new trade pact between the US and the European Union worth hundreds of billions have suffered a severe setback following allegations that Washington bugged key EU offices and intercepted phonecalls and emails from top officials. The latest reports of NSA snooping on Europe – and on Germany in particular – went well beyond previous revelations of electronic spying said to be focused on identifying suspected terrorists, extremists and organised criminals. The German publication Der Spiegel reported that it had seen documents and slides from the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden indicating that US agencies bugged the offices of the EU in Washington and at the United Nations in New York. They are also accused of directing an operation from Nato headquarters in Brussels to infiltrate the telephone and email networks at the EU's Justus Lipsius building in the Belgian capital, the venue for EU summits and home of the European council. Without citing sources, the magazine reported that more than five years ago security officers at the EU had noticed several missed calls apparently targeting the remote maintenance system in the building that were traced to NSA offices within the Nato compound in Brussels. The impact of the Der Spiegel allegations may be felt more keenly in Germany than in Brussels. The magazine said Germany was the foremost target for the US surveillance programmes, categorising Washington's key European ally alongside China, Iraq or Saudi Arabia in the intensity of the electronic snooping. Germany's justice minister, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, called for an explanation from the US authorities. "If the media reports are true, it is reminiscent of the actions of enemies during the cold war," she was quoted as saying in the German newspaper Bild. "It is beyond imagination that our friends in the US view Europeans as the enemy." France later also asked the US authorities for an explanation. France's foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, said: "These acts, if confirmed, would be completely unacceptable. "We expect the American authorities to answer the legitimate concerns raised by these press revelations as quickly as possible.". Washington and Brussels are scheduled to open ambitious free trade talks next week following years of arduous preparation. Senior officials in Brussels are worried that the talks would be overshadowed by the latest disclosures of US spying on its closest allies. "Obviously we will need to see what is the impact on the trade talks," said a senior official in Brussels. A second senior official said the allegations would cause a furore in the European parliament and could then hamper relations with the US. Robert Madelin, one of Britain's most senior officials in the European commission, tweeted that EU trade negotiators always operated on the assumption that their communications were listened to. A spokesman for the European commission said: "We have immediately been in contact with the US authorities in Washington and in Brussels and have confronted them with the press reports. They have told us they are checking on the accuracy of the information released yesterday and will come back to us." There were calls from MEPs for Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European council – who has his office in the building allegedly targeted by the US – and José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European commission, to urgently appear before the chamber to explain what steps they were taking in response to the growing body of evidence of US and British electronic surveillance of Europe through the Prism and Tempora operations. Guy Verhofstadt, the former Belgian prime minister and leader of the liberals in the European parliament, said: "This is absolutely unacceptable and must be stopped immediately. The American data collection mania has achieved another quality by spying on EU officials and their meetings. Our trust is at stake." Luxembourg's foreign minister, Jean Asselborn, told Der Spiegel: "If these reports are true, it's disgusting." Asselborn called for guarantees from the very highest level of the US government that the snooping and spying is immediately halted. Martin Schulz, the head of the European parliament, said: "I am deeply worried and shocked about the allegations of US authorities spying on EU offices. If the allegations prove to be true, it would be an extremely serious matter which will have a severe impact on EU-US relations. "On behalf of the European parliament, I demand full clarification and require further information speedily from the US authorities with regard to these allegations."


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