EU Parliament: Member States Not Doing Enough To Investigate Spying on Politicians and Journalists

Members of the European Parliament have slammed both the European Commission and EU member states for not doing enough to investigate the use of spyware to surveil politicians and journalists.

The European parliamentary committee for the investigation of the use of the Pegasus spyware programme, which had been found on the phones of politicians and journalists across Europe, said in a report published this week, that both the European Commission and the governments of the member states had been largely silent and reluctant to cooperate on the issue.

“In at least four member states, Poland, Hungary, Greece, and Spain, there has been illegitimate use of spyware, and there are suspicions about its use in Cyprus,” the committee stated, the Greek newspaper Ekathimerini reports.

Dutch liberal MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld spoke out Tuesday announcing the preliminary findings of the committee saying, “The commission is very determined to fight attacks on democracy from the outside, But … when the threat to democracy is not some far away stranger but the governments of EU member states, the commission suddenly considers that the defence of European democracy is no longer a European matter, but a matter for the member states.”

The Dutch MEP noted that while the EU Commission had warned Twitter owner Elon Musk last week, with EU Commissioner Thierry Breton stating, “in Europe, the bird will fly by our rules,” the Commission had used “velvet gloves” to EU members using spyware on their own citizens.

The European Parliament has vowed to investigate allegations that the Greek government was actively spying on an opposition party leader who is also a member of the European Parliament. https://t.co/3Ij4TOACb6

— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 20, 2022

“Member State governments have largely declined the invitation to cooperate with the PEGA committee,” the committee said and added, “Some governments downright refused to cooperate, others were friendly and polite but did not really share meaningful information. Even a simple questionnaire sent to all member states about the details of their national legal framework for the use of spyware, has hardly received any substantial answers.”

Last year it was revealed that the Pegasus spyware, which originated in Israel, had infected the phones of politicians, journalists and activists across the globe, including in European Union member states such as Hungary, Spain, and Poland.

The spyware, which allows access to messages, photographs and other elements of an infected phone, was initially created by the NSO group and marketed to fight crime, with the company stating that it would take legal action against any customers who use the software inappropriately and cancel their contracts.

The scandal surrounding Pegasus led to the NSO Group replacing its CEO in August of this year and reorganise its operations.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.