To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the legal basis of European Union Directives 2006/24/EC and 2002/58/EC on privacy and electronic communications. [HL2529]

Directives 2006/24/EC (Data Retention) and 2002/58/EC (Privacy and Electronic Communications) concern data processing and data retention in the electronic communications sector and the elimination of obstacles to the internal market for electronic communications, and were therefore made on a first pillar basis established by the 1992 Maastricht treaty. The legal basis of 2006/24/EC (Data Retention) was upheld in the recent European Court of Justice case (C-301/06 Ireland v Parliament). It was the opinion of the European Court of Justice that all the normal tests for using Article 95 were met.

It is important to note the 2006 directive covers the retention of communications data and not access to it. In particular, recital 25 of the Data Retention directive specifically states that law enforcement access to this retained data falls outside the scope of Community law and such access is therefore covered by UK legislation.