EU Justice Chief Hails Merkel Privacy Push

The EU's justice commissioner hailed Monday a call by German Chancellor Angela Merkel for tighter privacy curbs on Internet giants led by Google, amid reports of sweeping U.S. government surveillance online.

Viviane Reding urged the leaders of the European Union's 27 other member states "to follow Chancellor Merkel's leadership in data protection" and ensure a law revamp proposed 18 months ago is finalized before European Parliament elections in May.

"This would be a solid basis for a strong and united voice of Europe in ongoing transatlantic negotiations," Reding said of talks with United States officials aimed at securing an eventual EU-U.S. Free-Trade Agreement.

Reding said leaders, due to tackle problems at an October summit that are stunting the growth of a "digital single market" for half a billion EU consumers, could speed up these negotiations by resolving the privacy issue -- a raw nerve for some in the EU Parliament.

Merkel, who faces a general election on September 22, demanded on German public television Sunday that "Internet companies such as Facebook, Google and others inform European countries whom they are handing the data to".

Her main election challenger Peer Steinbrueck had charged that Merkel breached her oath of office in which she vowed to protect German citizens.

"Internationally, we should also negotiate an agreement," Merkel added of efforts to strike a balance between anti-terror and data protection demands.