Brunner's opening is a practiced exercise in balance & euphemism.
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Brunner's opening is a practiced exercise in balance & euphemism. He puts forward a "firm" approach to migration & "returns", and sets his top priority as developing an EU Internal Security Strategy. He's open to "new ideas" for the Migration Pact (EU-speak for externalisation).
He simultaneously posits himself as a champion of rights: "We must manage our border the #EuropeanWay, in full compliance with fundamental rights". BUT...
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... for the last 5 years, the 'European way' has failed dramatically to protect the rights of people on the move. Will Brunner want to - or even be able to - change this?
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Policing the net: the MEP grilling kicks off with the Conservatives asking about organised crime.Brunner points to the recommendations of an EU police group called #GoingDark (which has been strongly criticised by EDRi). Despite a nod to the importance of upholding CJEU case law, he makes a deeply worrying comment about obliging companies to break online anonymity. We'll be watching with concern
Read EDRi's analysis of the Going Dark group here: https://edri.org/our-work/high-level-group-going-dark-outcome-a-mission-failure/
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Better regulation: it's good to see Greens MEP Saskia Bricmont challenge the Commission's systemic failure to fulfill their own 'better regulation' commitments for Home Affairs laws, e.g. no Impact Assessments for the Facilitators package.
But worryingly, Brunner says this will not be possible in all cases, and that he cannot make such a commitment to future Impact Assessments.
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Europol: Bricmont also rightfully points out that the Commission still has not delivered the evaluation of #Europol's 2016 reform - 2 years after the deadline. When can we expect it then, she asks? Brunner remains silent, declining to commit that procedural problems would be rectified.
Meanwhile the Commission has since put forward two (!) mandate reforms massively expanding Europol's powers, rubber-stamping the agency's rogue data handling & without solid evidence.
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Privacy: 2+ hrs into the hearing, protecting #encryption, #privacy & stopping #spyware are finally raised, thanks to S&D's Kaljurand. But Brunner's response pits safety against privacy - a common trope of the outgoing Commissioner.
What's more, despite an outright ask for him to commit to protecting #E2EEncryption, Brunner skirts the question. A silver lining? He compliments the Parliament's position on the #CSAReg, which rejected the Commission's mass surveillance and encryption-breaking plans
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"Migrant smuggling": Brunner calls for new partnerships w/ 3rd countries, and support for law enforcement & Europol.
In line with the Commission proposal currently on the table, that would mean even more #biometric data processing & exchange, without reinforced supervision.
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What would have been important to hear instead is a renewed commitment to respecting the international right to asylum, EU-funded search & rescue, and a care-based migration policy that respects digital human rights. #MissedOpportunity
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Europol: Brunner says he shares the Conservative group's view of #Europol as a "success story" and its wish that the agency becomes "more operative & effective" in the future. How? With a bigger budget and double the staff.
This massively disregards the agency's repetitive illegal data collection & storage, its constant disrespect for people's right to access to their data, its responsibility in perpetuating racism in policing tech tools - all documented here: https://s.42l.fr/NlFSuK8I
