Origin of communications equipment used by the Commission

10.5.2016

Question for written answer E-003857-16
to the Commission
Rule 130
Dominique Bilde (ENF)

Last year a number of espionage cases came to light in Europe. For example, it emerged that the German security services had spied on top French and European Commission officials for the US NSA between 2002 and 2013.

Furthermore, The Guardian maintained in 2013 that 35 world leaders had also been spied on by the US security services. And we are well aware that American firms like Facebook and Apple send European data to the USA for storage and/or processing.

1. Could the Commission state what proportion of its telecommunications equipment is manufactured in the USA?

2. Could the Commission choose European companies to supply its communications equipment so as to avoid any risks of espionage?

3. What steps can the Commission take to prevent personal data from US-manufactured equipment being transferred to the USA?