A senior German official says Germany and the U.S. will begin talks this month on an agreement not to spy on one another in wake of the revelations about electronic surveillance by the National Security Agency.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff, Ronald Pofalla, told reporters such an agreement would offer a unique opportunity to set standards for future work of Western intelligence agencies after the Cold War.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Peter Claussen said he had no immediate comment about Pofalla's remarks, which were made following a meeting of a parliamentary committee overseeing intelligence services.

Public outrage over allegations of spying and surveillance by NSA leaker Edward Snowden has been especially strong in Germany, with its painful history of surveillance in communist East Germany and during the Nazi era.