[JURIST] The European Parliament [official website] Tuesday Tuesday a joint proposal by several EU governments to retain phone and e-mail data [JURIST report] for up to three years for use in anti-terror investigations. The parliament said the proposal from Britain, France, Sweden and Ireland that was introduced last year and pressed in the wake of the London bombings [JURIST report] in July did not establish the need for such strict EU-wide rules and expressed concern that the plans could violate citizens' privacy rights [EP press release]. The EU will instead focus on a European Commission [official website] counterproposal [press release] featuring a shorter retention periods – one year for phone records and six months for e-mail records. AP has more.