Monday

25th Sep 2023

Obama advisor: Pipeline deals could see US spy on EU leaders

  • US president Obama said the NSA would not spy on the leaders of allied nations unless there is a 'compelling national security purpose' (Photo: Bundesregierung)

Major economic deals, which look as if they could cause “difficulties” for the US, are a legitimate reason to spy on EU leaders, a US intelligence oversight panelist has said.

“If Germany were making an economic deal for a gas pipeline in a way that would cause large international difficulties, that might be a reason to try to prevent a bad outcome,” Peter Swire, a professor of law and ethics at the Georgia Institute of Technology, told journalists in Brussels on Friday (24 January).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

He noted that he was speaking in a personal capacity.

But his remark sheds light on US President Barack Obama’s thinking about the future of the National Security Agency (NSA) in light of Edward Snowden’s revelations.

The professor is one of five authors who recently drafted 46 recommendations on how to reform US intelligence.

The panel’s ideas formed the basis of Obama’s speech and presidential directive of 14 January on NSA regulation.

In his speech, Obama said he would not spy on leaders considered to be close allies "unless there is a compelling national security purpose."

Other members of the review panel include Michael Morell, ex-second in command at the CIA, and Richard Clarke, who was chief counter-terrorism advisor under presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

The Obama directive is said to limit the collection of signals intelligence to counter-intelligence, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, cyber security, threats to the armed forces, and transnational criminal organisations.

It comes after Snowden revealed last October the NSA bugged German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone, among the phones of 34 other world leaders.

The chancellor later said trust in the US had been “severely shaken.”

Swire noted in his Brussels press briefing that, under the Obama directive, US spies can only target foreign leaders after a due process that weighs up the two sides’ “economic and strategic alliance.”

“There is a much stricter screen on leadership intelligence when it comes to our allies than what existed previously,” he said.

Obama earlier this month also ruled out doing “intelligence to provide a competitive advantage to US companies or US commercial sectors.”

Spire echoed Obama, saying the US government does not conduct industrial espionage.

But here too he underlined that collection of foreign private commercial information or trade secrets can be authorised on national security grounds, either of the US or of its allies.

Earlier Snowden leaks show that the NSA snooped on EU competition commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, responsible for saying Yes or No to multinational mergers, among other economic targets.

The whistleblower, in an interview with Germany's ARD TV channel on Sunday, said the NSA passes on trade secrets and other information to US firms, contradicitng Obama’s claim.

“If there is information at Siemens that they [the NSA] think would be beneficial to the national interests, not the national security, of the United States, they will go after that information and they'll take it,” Snowden said.

For his part, Amnesty International’s secretary general Sahlil Shetty last week told this website he suspects the NSA tapped his phone as well.

“It’s not just the NSA,” he noted, however. “We have friends from China. Amnesty has many friends,” he said of the human rights NGO.

Agenda

Obama in Brussels this WEEK

EU capital Brussels will be pulling out all the diplomatic stops this week as it plays host to US President Barack Obama.

Opinion

Orbán's 'revenge law' is an Orwellian crackdown on education

On Tuesday, the Hungarian parliament passed a troubling piece of legislation known by its critics as the 'revenge law', which aims to punish and intimidate teachers who dare to defy Viktor Orbán's regime. This law is a brutally oppressive tool.

Latest News

  1. Women at risk from shoddy EU laws on domestic workers
  2. EU poised to agree on weakened emission rules
  3. China trade tension and migration deal This WEEK
  4. Europe's energy strategy: A tale of competing priorities
  5. Why Greek state workers are protesting new labour law
  6. Gloves off, as Polish ruling party fights for power
  7. Here's the headline of every op-ed imploring something to stop
  8. Report: Tax richest 0.5%, raise €213bn for EU coffers

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  2. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  4. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us