By By Anne Sewell Jul 1, 2013 in World Brussels - In the wake of the NSA scandal revealed by Edward Snowden, that EU diplomatic premises were under US surveillance, the European Union has ordered a worldwide security sweep of all its premises. This caused an uproar in the European Parliament, with officials demanding " After this startling and unnerving revelation, the European Union has now ordered a security sweep of all its premises, not only in Washington, Brussels and New York, but worldwide. Spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen told the media that President of the EU's Executive Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, "has instructed the competent commission services to proceed to a comprehensive ad hoc security sweep and check" in light of the most recent spying allegations leveled at the US. According to Ahrenkilde, EU commission premises are “regularly swept and communications networks are checked against spying and eavesdropping.” However according to a spokesman for Catherine Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief who oversees EU offices abroad, EU diplomatic missions in Washington, DC, and New York had moved premises since 2010, which is the year the reported spying took place. They had subsequently changed over to “completely new security systems.” The spokesman then added that the spying allegations were “news to us.” Among the furor caused by the news, the US Ambassador to Germany, Philip Murphy, was called to the Foreign Ministry after German Chancellor Angela Merkel had said it would be “unacceptable Cold War-style behavior” if the reports of the spying proved to be true. According to Steffen Seibert, Merkel's spokesman, mutual trust was necessary before consensus could be reached on the EU-US Free Trade Agreement, which is potentially the "biggest bilateral trade deal in history." If the allegations prove to be true, this could be damaging to this agreement. "It is beyond comprehension that our friends in the United States see Europeans as enemies," she said, all the while demanding an "immediate and comprehensive" response from the US government to the claims. "There can be no negotiations or transactions in all areas until we have obtained these guarantees for France, but also for all of the European Union, for all partners of the United States," Hollande told reporters. "We cannot accept this kind of behavior between partners and allies," he continued. "We ask that this stop immediately." One of the documents obtained by the Guardian newspaper, dated September 2010, stated that the US reportedly spied on 38 diplomatic missions which it referred to as “targets.” Amount the EU countries pinpointed were France, Italy and Greece, but India, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and Turkey were also among US allies mentioned. In an attempt to downplay the allegations, "All I know is that is not unusual for lots of nations. But beyond that, I'm not going to comment any further until I have all of the facts and find out precisely what the situation is," he added. Protests against worldwide NSA surveillance in Germany. YouTube Digital Journal reported on the revelation that EU diplomats in Washington, New York and Brussels had been spied on by NSA. Not only had the phones been bugged, but also internal computer networks in the buildings were under surveillance. A full report had appeared in the German Der Spiegel magazine.This caused an uproar in the European Parliament, with officials demanding " full clarification " over the NSA spying.After this startling and unnerving revelation, the European Union has now ordered a security sweep of all its premises, not only in Washington, Brussels and New York, but worldwide.Spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen told the media that President of the EU's Executive Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, "has instructed the competent commission services to proceed to a comprehensive ad hoc security sweep and check" in light of the most recent spying allegations leveled at the US.According to Ahrenkilde, EU commission premises are “regularly swept and communications networks are checked against spying and eavesdropping.” However according to a spokesman for Catherine Ashton, the EU's foreign policy chief who oversees EU offices abroad, EU diplomatic missions in Washington, DC, and New York had moved premises since 2010, which is the year the reported spying took place.They had subsequently changed over to “completely new security systems.” The spokesman then added that the spying allegations were “news to us.”Among the furor caused by the news, the US Ambassador to Germany, Philip Murphy, was called to the Foreign Ministry after German Chancellor Angela Merkel had said it would be “unacceptable Cold War-style behavior” if the reports of the spying proved to be true.According to Steffen Seibert, Merkel's spokesman, mutual trust was necessary before consensus could be reached on the EU-US Free Trade Agreement, which is potentially the "biggest bilateral trade deal in history." If the allegations prove to be true, this could be damaging to this agreement. Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger told AP, "If the media reports are accurate, then this recalls the methods used by enemies during the Cold War.""It is beyond comprehension that our friends in the United States see Europeans as enemies," she said, all the while demanding an "immediate and comprehensive" response from the US government to the claims. France's President Francois Hollande also warned that the alleged spying could destroy the historic trade pact, speaking of the reports that the French embassy in Washington and France's office at the UN in New York had been bugged."There can be no negotiations or transactions in all areas until we have obtained these guarantees for France, but also for all of the European Union, for all partners of the United States," Hollande told reporters."We cannot accept this kind of behavior between partners and allies," he continued. "We ask that this stop immediately."One of the documents obtained by the Guardian newspaper, dated September 2010, stated that the US reportedly spied on 38 diplomatic missions which it referred to as “targets.”Amount the EU countries pinpointed were France, Italy and Greece, but India, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and Turkey were also among US allies mentioned. Washington is not being very forthcoming about the latest accusations, happening amidst the ongoing trade talks, although US Secretary of State John Kerry admitted that Europe had raised the matter with him, but that no real comment would be forthcoming until he had the whole story.In an attempt to downplay the allegations, Kerry stated that , "every country in the world that is engaged in international affairs of national security undertakes lots of activities to protect its national security.""All I know is that is not unusual for lots of nations. But beyond that, I'm not going to comment any further until I have all of the facts and find out precisely what the situation is," he added. More about Eu, European union, Diplomatic, Nsa, Surveillance More news from Eu European union Diplomatic Nsa Surveillance Spying Whistleblower edward snowden snowden