Parliament will launch an inquiry after the recent US spying revelations, but refuses to suspend EU-US trade negotiations with Washington.

US spying scandal divides Parliament

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/16355146/n001-130704-001-en.srt

Deep in the bowels of a building  on the outskirts of Strasbourg,

classified information on criminals  and illegal border movements is collected

part of the intelligence exchange  vital for security today.

What's happening across the Atlantic  however, also in the name of security,

Specifically, why and how the Americans  are using the private data of Europeans.

Sorry, bugging the EU offices in  Washington is a matter of national security?

Blanket surveillance of millions of innocent  citizens is a matter of national security?

The Prism spy programme  of the National Security Agency

was the cause of deep splits when  it was debated in Parliament this week.

The European Parliament is carrying  the hopes to restore rule of law

Because today,  in a digitalised and globalised world,

the protection of those values  is strongly linked to information technology.

Security services should not only  protect our lives but also our liberty.

But in a democracy  where you think first and act later,

you gather facts before you threaten  and compromise international agreements,

For other MEPs, the furore  over personal data protection

misses the point entirely  on wider security.

The ones we should be concerned about  are the hostile intelligence services.

But no one's discussing what's happening

as far as the Chinese, Russians  and others are concerned.

Some MEPs have asked that  President Obama appear in Strasbourg

At the very least, they say, they want him  to stop singling out European allies.

that from the situation that we find  ourselves in at the moment,

our citizens get much better  legal protection in the US,

the same protection as US citizens also get.

Two things remains fixed  after Thursday's vote.

A committee of inquiry  will report back by the end of the year,

and the much heralded EU/US trade talks  will continue on track,

such are the potential benefits  to both sides.