EU summit deals with US spying scandal and excessive red tape

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - The main topic discussed by European officials during the second day of the European Council summit were ways of cutting down on the amount of new regulation created in Brussels. Germany and the UK were the strongest advocates of stepping up the efforts to limit the red tape.

The president of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso backed their calls saying that "lighter, simpler, cheaper, common-sense regulation" could be achieved, but that there was a lot of work to be done.

Meanwhile on Thursday European Union officials dealt with the recent revelations in the US spying scandal, i.e. the evidence of the American intelligence monitoring millions of calls and text messages in France as well as the tapping of Angela Merkel's phone. The French and German leaders discussed the situation on the sidelines of the summit and decided on a joint action in respect.

They also pressed EU officials for a quicker implementation of rules on the transfer of personal digital data between Europe and the US.