On improving protection of fundamental rights under EU production orders  

Petition richtet sich an: Petitionsausschuss des Europäischen Parlaments

In the petitioner’s opinion, protection of fundamental rights has been neglected in the current proposal for EU production orders (COM(2018)0225). The petitioner maintains that a requesting state would be given electronic evidence without the involvement of national courts; he claims that, under the proposal, there is too little scope for individuals to defend themselves and private firms would be given too many powers. The petitioner requests that improvements be made to production orders as regards data protection, protection of fundamental rights and protecting EU citizens from being spied on. The petitioner has made a number of specific proposals for improvements to the proposed regulation, including preventing unlawfully acquired evidence from being used in an investigation or in court. According to the petitioner, there should be direct reporting to service providers, evidence should be stored on the basis of the ‘quick freeze’ method, and it should only be possible to produce data in response to a court order in the requesting and receiving states. The petitioner considers that the Member State of the individual concerned should have a veto. He takes the view that, in the event of improper use, the requesting and receiving states should be jointly liable and that persons bound by professional secrecy should be protected by a dual judicial review. The petitioner maintains that the person concerned should be informed about the production of data and about possible recourse to legal action and that data should be produced only in connection with serious criminal offences.