EDRi argued the case to the European institutions. The proposed legislation wasn’t a drastic change from the current text—it simply reiterated the existing principles and improved the implementation of legislation. The relevant service of the Commission—the Directorate-General for Justice—accepted the provision and included it in its draft Regulation. However, after considerable US pressure, wherein which the US lobbied against the legislation by claiming it was going to lead to terrorism, financial meltdown, and child pornography, the provision was removed before Commission made its proposal.



EDRi obtained and published all of the relevant information about the proposal and US lobbying, trying to set the record straight in light of the misleading claims made by the US regarding the proposal and the backtracking of the European Commission. But at that time—January 2012—they couldn't persuade any press outlets to pick up the story.



However, after being proposed by the European Commission, the proposal moved to the European Parliament. EDRi campaigned to have "Article 42" adopted as an amendment during that process. This was proposed by the parliamentarian in charge but received very little attention or support.



From January 2012 until June 2013, there was no realistic possibility of success, but the group carried on. However, once the Snowden leaks were published, the atmosphere changed completely. In this context, the fact that the US had successfully persuaded the Commission to delete the proposal was far more shocking. News stories appeared in major publications, such as the Financial Times. As a result, an overwhelming majority of Parliamentarians saw the need to reinsert a modified version of the text into the Regulation. When the Snowden revelations were published, the deadline for the tabling of amendments in the European Parliament had passed. The Parliament was able to vote for the anti-FISA safeguard because they had ensured that the amendment had been tabled. Most recently, the German minister responsible has given his support for this provision to be included in the final European regulation.



Of course, that one change to EU legislation is not enough for EDRi, however it is an important step and they continue to fight for similar legislation.