German Approves Espionage Law

German lawmakers have approved a bill that allows the country’s foreign intelligence agency to spy on European Union institutions and fellow EU member states. The legislation passed is part of a range of measures meant to improve oversight of espionage in the wake of the revelations by former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden. A panel of independent judges will have to be

informed when the BND spy agency eavesdrops on Germany’s allies. Judges will also have the right to undertake spot checks of the agency’s work.

Parliament’s intelligence oversight powers will also be increased and intelligence chiefs will have to attend a public hearing before lawmakers every year.

Critics say that instead of clamping down on questionable BND activity the law will merely legalize them.

The most controversial section of the law is a clause allowing the Bundesnachrichtendienst to intercept communications of foreign entities and individuals on German soil and abroad which pass through a major internet exchange point in Frankfurt.

The government says this is necessary to detect possible militants planning attacks in Germany or Europe.

The law stipulates that through this activity it cannot be ruled out that the communications of German citizens and entities could also be accidently intercepted, a major shift for the BND, which had been forbidden from spying on Germans.

The Greens have threatened to petition Germany’s highest court and the European Court of Justice to repeal the reform, saying it infringes on Germans’ right to privacy.