Plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. FREDERICK FLORIN (AFP)
The European Parliament this Thursday demanded that Spain investigate “thoroughly” all cases of espionage using the Pegasus software and other similar computer programs, particularly the 47 cases in which it remains unclear whether there was a court order for the wiretapping. In addition, it calls on Madrid to carry out the promised reforms, in particular those of the National Intelligence Center (CNI).
The recommendations to Spain and the other countries where Pegasus software espionage scandals took place – Greece, Hungary, Poland and Cyprus – were adopted in the Strasbourg plenary with large majorities: 411 votes in favour, 97 against and 37 abstentions . A result which, for those mainly responsible for the report and the recommendations now confirmed by the 705 MEPs, shows that Europe does not want to tolerate this type of illegal espionage and that countries must be held accountable in cases of this type.
The report’s rapporteur, Dutchwoman Sophie In t’Veld of the liberal group Renew, called the vote “a very strong wake-up call from MEPs” who are unwilling to let their guard down. After stressing at a press conference the previous day that none of the named countries had ever conducted an “in-depth investigation that sheds the necessary light on the scandal,” he promised that the European Parliament would continue to push for assuming responsibilities.
“In a democracy, accountability is key. “Spying is a tool of authoritarian regimes that undermines democracies and it is used here in Europe against the guardians of our democracy,” he said after Thursday’s vote. “I trust that the Commission and the Council will inform us before the summer on how they intend to implement each of our recommendations. We will carefully check whether they apply; “This is just the beginning of the work,” he promised.
In the case of Spain, the European Parliament is calling on the authorities to carry out a “full, fair and effective” investigation into the alleged espionage with Pegasus, which has involved 65 Catalan politicians – 18 of them with judicial authorization – as well as the President of the government, Pedro Sánchez, and several of his ministers.
The recommendations emphasize the need to clarify, above all, the 47 cases of the so-called Catalangate “where it is not clear whether they were targeted by the CNI by court order”. Pegasus is a program that, according to its inventor, the Israeli company NSO, can only be bought by state institutions such as the army, intelligence services and state security forces to investigate organized crime and terrorism. As in the case of the espionage against Sánchez and his ministers, the European Parliament wants the results of these investigations to be made public “as widely as possible”.
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In addition, in the 18 cases of Catalan pro-independence supporters who have been the subject of a court order, Spain must give those individuals access to the said Supreme Court decision, the European Parliament is demanding. In general, all those affected by espionage must have “access to a reasonable remedy” and the legal procedures they initiate must be completed “promptly, impartially and thoroughly”. Finally, it is strongly recommended to start with the reform of the CNI announced more than a year ago and to invite Europol to national investigations to bring its experience.
Just before the final vote began, MEPs rejected amendments from the two right-wing groups in the European Parliament, the European Conservative and Reformist Group (ECR, where Vox is based) and the Ultras Identity and Democracy (ID), denouncing the espionage of the Catalan independents as “part of the investigation into the 2017 coup attempt,” reports Efe.
For the MEP from Ciudadanos Jordi Cañas, who during the long year that the parliamentary inquiry committee has been working on Pegasus, has denounced the use of this measure by the Catalan separatists “in favor of the independence theses”, he declared himself satisfied with a “99”. %” with the resolutions adopted, which he sees as “an absolute failure of separatism and a victory for those of us who defend that spyware cannot really be used to spy on innocent people, but rather to spy on suspected criminals like this.” was the case in Spain.”
“We have managed to remove the propaganda of separatism from the text, down to factual descriptions and recommendations for action, so that we can truly ensure that no EU state is using software to illegally spy on a citizen, under any circumstances,” he told reporters Strasbourg.
Nonetheless, MEP Diana Riba (ERC), who is also on the list of people infected by Pegasus according to cybersecurity experts at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, has said she is “quite happy” with some of the recommendations. Expert opinions and court cases put Spain “on the same level as Poland and Hungary”.
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