EU’s concern over US bugging claims

Senior European officials expressed concern at reports that US intelligence agents bugged EU offices on both sides of the Atlantic, with some leftist politicians calling for concrete sanctions against Washington.

The president of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, said he was “deeply worried and shocked about the allegations of US authorities spying on EU offices” made in a report published by German news weekly Der Spiegel.

The magazine said the surveillance was carried out by the US National Security Agency (NSA), which has been the subject of leaks claiming it scanned vast amounts of foreign Internet traffic. The US government has defended its efforts to intercept electronic communications overseas by arguing that this has helped prevent terror attacks.