The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly in favor of launching an “in-depth inquiry” into the NSA surveillance programs and their use against European Union offices and diplomats.
The inquiry is expected to be conducted alongside planned trade negotiations with the United States, and some EU member nations are seeking to condition US cooperation on the inquiry with the trade pact, which is valued at over $100 billion.
The parliamentary resolution also had a non-binding statement urging the European Commission to withdraw from existing data sharing agreements with the United States in light of the nation’s mass surveillance of EU citizens.
Officials across the EU have been expressing growing anger as more and more information about the surveillance comes to light. President Obama has downplayed the situation, saying that such spying is perfectly ordinary.