Datagate: US Spying on EU? Then We Count For Something …

The Italian press, like most in Europe, is placing much importance on the most recent series of revelations provided by the mole of Datagate, Edward Snowden. According to Snowden — as first reported by Der Spiegel — the U.S., in addition to spying on traditional enemies like Russia and China, has also been spying on EU countries that are its allies, many of which are members of NATO.

Additionally — according to The Guardian as reported in Il Fatto — Snowden claims that there were six countries that were helping the espionage mission and that Italy was one of them. He claims that Italy was secretly providing communication and computer data to Washington every time it was asked. According to the British article published yesterday, Italy, like Germany and France, is very untrustworthy: Not too shabby, it’s even a bit amusing — it’s not too often that we are included in talks about the biggest powers in the Union.

One 2010 National Security Agency document defines the EU as “an objective”: The headquarters of institutional members, in Brussels and elsewhere, and European diplomats in Washington and the U.N.’s New York headquarters have been tapped.

This news is often accompanied by surprised, irritated or scandalized commentary. Taking Lady Ashton’s side, the president of the European Parliament and member of the German Social Democratic Party, Martin Schulz, who is not known for either timeliness or incisiveness, said: “If it is true, this is an enormous scandal, for which the U.S. should provide an immediate explanation.” Schulz, a candidate in next year’s election for the presidency of the European Commission, also added: “If this is true it would greatly injure relations with the EU and it would have serious consequences for future [transatlantic] relations.”*

I am honestly unable to share in the surprise or to believe this is a scandal. On the contrary, the U.S. spies on everyone, beginning with itself, in a world where everyone spies on everyone else, as Snowden has explained. It is actually a relief, and maybe even a point of pride, to know that the U.S. is also spying on the EU. This means that Europe counts for something; or, at least, America thinks it does. Or else, they don’t trust us — we are less “Bulgarian” than we feel.

This is a good pick-me-up to counter our eternal feelings of crisis, irrelevance and impotence. Washington is trying to figure out what is behind Brussels’ tiring and never-ending negotiations. Of course, it could simply be the U.S. intelligence agency’s umpteenth blunder: Thinking that we are still something that we are not — a power — or that we are not yet — a Union. As a result of tapping left and right, the U.S. has lost its bearings and has confused the EU with the axis of evil.

*Editor’s Note: This quote, accurately translated, could not be verified.