Wednesday, February 12, 2014

EU 'secretly spent £320 million on surveillance drone development'

Over £320 million has been spent on developing European Union surveillance drones without proper democratic oversight and amid concerns over close links between industry and officials, a report from a civil liberties watchdog has found.

Neither the House of Commons nor the European Parliament has been consulted over the development of EU unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) which are being designed to police Europe's skies on law enforcement missions.

The contribution from British taxpayers to the projects is estimated to be more than £46 million despite publicly declared opposition from David Cameron, the Prime Minister, to EU drones surveillance or air force owned or operated at the European level.

 The report by Statewatch, a European civil liberties watchdog, has uncovered a secretive EURO 70 million (£58m) budget line that was inserted into new EU legislation on air traffic control for this year as "a politically driven priority" to develop drones for surveillance by European police forces, border guards and security services. Full story...

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