Stockholm Programme

Both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have pledged to scrap the ID card system and the National Identity Register(NIR). However, it is unclear as to how they will reconcile these promises with the proposals set out in the EU's 'Stockholm Programme. The legal powers to establish this new techno-surveillance are delivered to Brussels by the Lisbon Treaty.

The European Civil Liberties Network (ECLN) has published a Statement calling on civil society groups and individuals to voice their opinions on the EU's Stockholm programme and work towards a democratic Europe:

The “Stockholm Programme” sets the agenda for EU justice and home affairs and internal security policy from 2010 to 2014 and will extend militarised border controls, discriminatory immigration policies, mandatory and proactive surveillance regimes and an increasingly aggressive external security and defence policy. The ECLN believes these policies constitute an attack on civil liberties and human rights. It calls for active civil society engagement and opposition to dangerous authoritarian tendencies within the EU.

Tony Bunyan, the Statewatch editor, comments:

"What stands out are the proposals related to the Future Group report. A promise to balance better data protection and EU standards for "Privacy Enhancing Technology" with the law enforcement agencies demands for access to all information and communications. An "information system architecture" to bring about the sharing of all data across the EU. The use of "security technologies" to harness the "digital tsunami" to gather through mass surveillance personal data on peoples' everyday activities through public-private partnerships.

What is new is the clear aim of creating the surveillance society and the database state. Future generations, for whom this will be a fully developed reality, will look back at this era and rightly ask, why did you not act to stop it."