After his appearance at the Parliamentary Control Committee Hans-Peter Friedrich spoke out in favour of imposing tighter regulations on businesses within the EU with respect to passing on data to bodies outside Europe. He said he would be advocating extending the planned EU data protection reform to include provisions of this sort at the next meeting of EU ministers of justice and interior affairs.

The Parliamentary Control Committee is responsible for monitoring the activities of the German federal intelligence services.

During his meetings in Washington D.C. Hans-Peter Friedrich called for greater transparency in matters related to the secret services. He met with Vice President Joe Biden, Attorney General Eric Holder and Lisa Monaco, President Obama’s homeland security and counter-terrorism adviser. Prior to the arrival of Hans-Peter Friedrich, talks had already been held at expert level with the United States Department of Justice and the National Security Agency.

"The most important thing was that all parties with whom we have held talks here in the United States understand that the people of Germany and Europe are extremely aware and sensitive when it comes to protection of privacy and protection of liberty," declared the minister on 12 July in Washington D.C. He was given clear assurances, "that there is no agreement between the National Security Agency and any German bodies about spying on the citizens of the other nation".

Angela Merkel calls for clear assurances

During the traditional summer interview conducted by the German broadcaster ARD, the Chancellor declared that the Federal Interior Minister’s trip was a "first step". It must now be ascertained whether or not US agencies have respected German law on German territory in the past.

"I expect clear assurances from the American government that in future German law will be respected on German soil," said the Chancellor. "We are friends and partners, we are allies in a defensive alliance. We must be able to trust one another."

Reports on data surveillance to be examined

In an interview with the Südwestpresse Angela Merkel said, "We want to know whether EU representations and embassies have really been spied on, and whether all the reports about NSA data surveillance inside Germany are true. This is publicly disputed, for instance, by the operators of these data hubs."

"I have said unequivocally that it would be quite inacceptable for us if German law were found to have been contravened inside Germany," said Hans-Peter Friedrich on German television (ARD). President Obama had given him his assurances that individual operational measures would be disclosed, he added.

According to the American side, 45 attacks around the world have been prevented thanks to information provided by the US intelligence agencies, including five in Germany, said the Federal Interior Minister. The Americans also stated definitively that no industrial espionage is conducted by their intelligence services.

Retaining a balance between liberty and security

In an interview with Die Zeit newspaper, Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that there must always be a balance between liberty and security. "Things must always be kept in proportion." Given the many new technical options, "A balance must always be retained between the greatest possible liberty and what the state needs to ensure that its citizens enjoy the greatest possible degree of security".

Angela Merkel pointed out that this balancing is an ongoing process. "The discussion as to what is in proportion is one we must engage in consistently, while at the same time dong everything in our power to afford the best possible protection against terrorist attacks, which is impossible without making some use of the opportunities of monitoring telecommunications."

Preventing terrorist attacks

In her interview with the Südwestpresse, the Chancellor also pointed out that the German Federal Intelligence Service has cooperated for decades with the intelligence services of western partner states, including the United States of America, "in the interests of protecting the people of Germany". Angela Merkel pointed out that, "It was information from the USA that led to the arrest of the "Sauerland Group" and thus helped prevent terrorist attacks".