EUROPEAN TROUBLE FOR THE FRA ACT

The Reinfeldt administration might have to defend its FRA Act in the highest court of the European Union.

A representative of a [Belgian] government commission to protect the privacy of citizens says in Belgian TV that the FRA Act, by all certainty, will be tried in the European Court. The Commission for Protection of Privacy is an independent, government-appointed commission that was created by the Belgian parliament. It has now focused its interest on the Swedish wiretapping debate. 'We are very surprised' says Willem Debeucklaere of the CPVP about the fact that the Swedish Riksdag has passed the FRA Act. 'An intelligence service that can wiretap anything without a court order? Is that really legal?' asks the host of the show. 'No, as a matter of fact not' Willem Debeucklaere replies. 'I do not believe this meets Europan standards, which of course Sweden also must abide by. I believe this will either end up before the Swedish constitutional court or perhaps in Luxembourg, but certainly in Strasbourg' [before the European Court].

It might be worth noting here that Sweden, unlike virtually any other democratic country, does not have a constitutional court. The legislature has the final say on whether its own laws are constitutional or not. Other than that, the CPVP's criticism of the FRA Act is interesting because it means that the Belgian organization might actually sue the Swedish government in the EU Court system over the FRA Act.