As
the tally for the European Parliament election draws to a close, dozens
of candidates pledging to support data privacy and net neutrality
initiatives appear to have been elected.
Voting for representatives to the 766-member European Parliament took place from Thursday to Sunday, in conjunction with local and national elections across the 28-nation European Union. For the first time, digital issues were at the forefront of candidates’ election campaigns.
More than 400 candidates to the Parliament pledged to defend net neutrality and data privacy, signing a 10-point digital rights charter called WePromiseEU. Votes were still being counted Monday, but by late afternoon, 55 candidates for Pariament who had signed WePromiseEU were confirmed as elected.
“It’s great to see that so many candidates and citizens consider their digital civil rights worth defending, and were ready to commit to the principles of the charter,” said Joe McNamee, director of digital rights group EDRi. “It is now up to us all to make sure that the elected members of European Parliament (MEPs) stand behind their promise and spread these values among their colleagues,” he continued.
The WePromiseEU pledge includes a commitment to fight against the idea of service providers being held accountable for monitoring illegal downloads, and against blanket, unchecked surveillance measures. It also includes a pledge to try to ensure that European surveillance technology is not sold to despotic regimes.
“I think more of the newly elected members will be switched on technology issues and I am happy that there are efforts being made to curb the export of surveillance tech so I will continue with that,” said Maritje Schaake, re-elected MEP for The Netherlands associated with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE).
Schaake is calling for a new digital committee to be set up in the European Parliament. The system of drawing up EU legislation requires that different committees in the Parliament scrutinize proposed laws. Currently although there are committees on trade, justice and home affairs, there is none devoted entirely to technology.
Read more: What does the new EU Parliament mean for tech? | PCWorld
Voting for representatives to the 766-member European Parliament took place from Thursday to Sunday, in conjunction with local and national elections across the 28-nation European Union. For the first time, digital issues were at the forefront of candidates’ election campaigns.
More than 400 candidates to the Parliament pledged to defend net neutrality and data privacy, signing a 10-point digital rights charter called WePromiseEU. Votes were still being counted Monday, but by late afternoon, 55 candidates for Pariament who had signed WePromiseEU were confirmed as elected.
“It’s great to see that so many candidates and citizens consider their digital civil rights worth defending, and were ready to commit to the principles of the charter,” said Joe McNamee, director of digital rights group EDRi. “It is now up to us all to make sure that the elected members of European Parliament (MEPs) stand behind their promise and spread these values among their colleagues,” he continued.
The WePromiseEU pledge includes a commitment to fight against the idea of service providers being held accountable for monitoring illegal downloads, and against blanket, unchecked surveillance measures. It also includes a pledge to try to ensure that European surveillance technology is not sold to despotic regimes.
“I think more of the newly elected members will be switched on technology issues and I am happy that there are efforts being made to curb the export of surveillance tech so I will continue with that,” said Maritje Schaake, re-elected MEP for The Netherlands associated with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE).
Schaake is calling for a new digital committee to be set up in the European Parliament. The system of drawing up EU legislation requires that different committees in the Parliament scrutinize proposed laws. Currently although there are committees on trade, justice and home affairs, there is none devoted entirely to technology.
Read more: What does the new EU Parliament mean for tech? | PCWorld
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