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European Parliament asks member states to grant protection to Edward Snowden

29 points by choult 11y ago

celticninja 11y ago
Misleading title. They have voted for a. Non binding resolution agreeing that he should not be extradited from the EU. It is a far cry from asylum.
- jazzyk 11y ago
  This. While it is overall encouraging, I was also taken aback by the very narrow margin this resolution was passed (285 to 281).
- matt4077 11y ago
  It is obviously far less than what the title implies or what (some) people would like. But the power of parliament's non-binding resolutions to define the debate shouldn't be underestimated. The Parliament has, in the last 10 years and especially under its current President Schulz redefined the balance of power vis-a-vis the Commission and the Council. One prominent recent example was the so-called "Spitzenkandidat-System" whereby the parties nominate a candidate for the Commission presidency and then whichever party wins the most seats in parliament gets its nominee appointed. Note that there were no laws mandating such a system and that it was actively opposed by quite a few powerful people and institutions, such as Chancellor Merkel.But Schulz et al did an excellent job of (a) exploiting parliament's democratic legitimacy as the only elected EU body and (b) showing the heads of states some fine instruments by which Parliament could have stalled the agenda. Sorry for the wall of text. tl/dr: the EU parliament has acquired an aura that makes even non-binding resolutions much more relevant than, say, a few op-eds or press releases.
- dang 11y ago
  Yes, that was bad. Title changed from "Europe has voted to offer Edward Snowden asylum". Also this is a dupe of https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10471172 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10471172 as teh_kiev pointed out in another comment.
pjc50 11y ago
The EU is not a country and has no power to offer anyone asylum.
- matt4077 11y ago
  Asylum is within the jurisdiction of the European Union, which, for example established minimum standards for the asylum process in 2004. These rights can and have been held up by the courts. In this regard, the European Union has created the law that "offers people asylum" even if the executive individual decisions are left to the member states. There's also the Dublin Agreement which (even if it's falling apart right now for practical reasons) is in principle applicable, binding law. So, no, the EU isn't going grant Snowden asylum. But it is certainly a major player in refugee law.
stevetrewick 11y ago
>...asked member states to grant him protection from extradition Incredibly misleading. Key word there is "asked". The EU Parliament has no power to compel such, nor indeed can it pass legislation by itself.
pluckytree 11y ago
So, who wants to volunteer to lose all trade with the United States?
teh_klev 11y ago
Relevant seeing as the 'i' didn't link to it (third paragraph): http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/content/20151022IPR98818/html/Mass-surveillance-EU-citizens%27-rights-still-in-danger-says-Parliament http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/content/2015... Discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10471172 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10471172

29 points by choult 11y ago

Misleading title. They have voted for a. Non binding resolution agreeing that he should not be extradited from the EU. It is a far cry from asylum.

jazzyk 11y ago
This. While it is overall encouraging, I was also taken aback by the very narrow margin this resolution was passed (285 to 281).
matt4077 11y ago
It is obviously far less than what the title implies or what (some) people would like. But the power of parliament's non-binding resolutions to define the debate shouldn't be underestimated. The Parliament has, in the last 10 years and especially under its current President Schulz redefined the balance of power vis-a-vis the Commission and the Council. One prominent recent example was the so-called "Spitzenkandidat-System" whereby the parties nominate a candidate for the Commission presidency and then whichever party wins the most seats in parliament gets its nominee appointed. Note that there were no laws mandating such a system and that it was actively opposed by quite a few powerful people and institutions, such as Chancellor Merkel.But Schulz et al did an excellent job of (a) exploiting parliament's democratic legitimacy as the only elected EU body and (b) showing the heads of states some fine instruments by which Parliament could have stalled the agenda. Sorry for the wall of text. tl/dr: the EU parliament has acquired an aura that makes even non-binding resolutions much more relevant than, say, a few op-eds or press releases.
dang 11y ago
Yes, that was bad. Title changed from "Europe has voted to offer Edward Snowden asylum". Also this is a dupe of https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10471172 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10471172 as teh_kiev pointed out in another comment.

pjc50 11y ago

The EU is not a country and has no power to offer anyone asylum.

matt4077 11y ago
Asylum is within the jurisdiction of the European Union, which, for example established minimum standards for the asylum process in 2004. These rights can and have been held up by the courts. In this regard, the European Union has created the law that "offers people asylum" even if the executive individual decisions are left to the member states. There's also the Dublin Agreement which (even if it's falling apart right now for practical reasons) is in principle applicable, binding law. So, no, the EU isn't going grant Snowden asylum. But it is certainly a major player in refugee law.

stevetrewick 11y ago

>...asked member states to grant him protection from extradition Incredibly misleading. Key word there is "asked". The EU Parliament has no power to compel such, nor indeed can it pass legislation by itself.

pluckytree 11y ago

So, who wants to volunteer to lose all trade with the United States?

teh_klev 11y ago

Relevant seeing as the 'i' didn't link to it (third paragraph): http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/content/20151022IPR98818/html/Mass-surveillance-EU-citizens%27-rights-still-in-danger-says-Parliament http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/news-room/content/2015... Discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10471172 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10471172