EU Parliament Urges Blocking U.S. Data Access After Spy Leaks

EU Parliament Urges Blocking U.S. Data Access After Spy Leaks: The European Parliament called on Thursday for the scrapping of two agreements granting the United States access to European financial and travel data unless Washington reveals the extent of its electronic spying operations in Europe.

A non-binding resolution, passed by 483 votes to 98 with 65 abstentions, said the United States should come clean about its surveillance of email and communications data or risk seeing the transatlantic information-sharing deals, created in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, torn up.

The parliament cannot revoke the agreements without the support of European Union governments and the bloc’s executive Commission, which looks unlikely.

But the vote showed the depth of anger within the assembly over revelations from former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden about U.S. electronic eavesdropping on allies.