At a moment when American lawmakers are reconsidering the broad surveillance powers assumed by the government after Sept. 11, the lower house of the French Parliament took a long stride in the opposite direction Tuesday, overwhelmingly approving a bill that could give the authorities their most intrusive domestic spying abilities ever, with almost no judicial oversight.
The money quote from the discussion of how the (lack of) oversight works:
While in theory, the prime minister would act independently, it would probably be difficult for him or her to oppose the intelligence services, because they would most likely be supplying information about possible terrorist or criminal targets.