Re: unfortunately...
You seem to make the common mistake of thinking of the EU as a single body.
The EU commission is largely made of gov wonks and tend to do the same sort of shady back-room deals that most governments do, but at least their masters can join the tabloids in blaming the "Evil EU" for making them do what they were lobbying for in the background anyway. Just like the UK gov and the telco data retention directive, for example. These are the ones trying to put a plaster on the current EU-US deal.
Then you have the MEPs who actually do a public debate and (mostly) democratic vote as they don't have much of a party-political goal scoring agenda like most lower houses. These are the ones who seem to be standing up for individual rights, just a shame our own MPs seem to care for none of it.
It would be even better had we (the UK) not voted in wasters like Farage who, whether you are pro-EU or anti-EU, did SFA to help any UK interest in any debates or votes.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
