PARLIAMENTARY MISSION OF THE CIVIL LIBERTIES COMMISSION TO WASHINGTON D.C.
From May 15-19, Javier Zarzalejos participated as a member of the Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament in a parliamentary mission to the U.S. capital, where a wide range of topical political issues were discussed, including security and child protection, data transfer and privacy, women’s rights, counter-terrorism, visa waiver programs and technology policy.
On the first day, MEPs from the Civil Liberties Committee attended a briefing by advisors from the European External Action Service of the Delegation of the European Union. Afterwards, they met with Stavros Lambrinidis, the EU Ambassador to the United States.
On the second day, the MEPs attended a meeting with different Non-Governmental Organizations working on technology policy, human rights and child safety. They then met with members of the House of Representatives and Senators working on privacy, cybersecurity and women’s rights issues, including the drivers of some of the most prominent federal privacy laws. Finally, they met with representatives of the reputable think tank “Atlantic Council.”
On the third day, members of the Civil Liberties Committee met with senior representatives of the Justice Administration and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials specializing in security, counterterrorism and visa policy. Finally, on the same day, Javier Zarzalejos was able to visit the main offices of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to learn about their work in the fight against child sexual abuse.
Finally, on the fourth day, the MEPs attended meetings with representatives of the Data Protection Review Court (DPRC) and the Office of the director of the Department of Justice. In addition, they were able to visit the headquarters of the logistics and technology company Amazon, where they participated in a discussion on data protection legislation in the United States and the European Union with representatives of companies such as Meta, Amazon, Google, AWS and Microsoft, among others.