The United States is working to improve intelligence cooperation with Germany but a sweeping "no-spy" agreement between the two countries is unlikely, a senior Obama administration official said on Tuesday.
"We are not currently talking about an across-the-board 'no spy' agreement, but we do agree we need to work towards updated understandings between our two countries, and if we do that properly it can strengthen our relationship," said a senior U.S. administration official.
After revelations from former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden about alleged eavesdropping on Merkel, German media speculated that the German government might seek to join an espionage alliance known as the "Five Eyes," in which the United States and a group of English-speaking allies divide the world into eavesdropping target sectors and share the results.
The "Five Eyes" partners are the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
However, a former U.S. intelligence official said that for Germany to be invited to join the group, all five of the allies would have to agree and such an agreement is highly unlikely.
A more likely result from the U.S.-German discussions is an agreement by the American side not to spy on German leaders like Merkel and also not to eavesdrop on German companies for economically competitive reasons, the former official said.
However, he said that any such promise would be largely empty, as U.S. eavesdropping rules already bar official eavesdropping for the purpose of commercial industrial espionage. U.S. officials say this policy is at odds with the practices of both friendly and adversarial foreign countries.
The White House aims to complete a review of NSA surveillance practices by the end of the year and has acknowledged that more constraints are needed to ensure privacy rights are protected.
President Barack Obama, who has come under a stream of criticism from abroad over the NSA's activities, is considering a ban on U.S. eavesdropping on leaders of allied nations.
据英国媒体11月6日报道，一名奥巴马政府高官11月5日称，美国正努力改善与德国的情报合作，但两国间不太可能会签订彻底的“不监视（no-spy）”协议。
该官员说：“目前，我们没有就全面的不监视协议进行谈判，不过我们同意两国间要增进了解，如果做法得当，将巩固我们的关系。”
在斯诺登机密文件曝出美国窃听德国总理默克尔后，德媒纷纷推测德国政府可能会寻求加入“五眼”情报联盟。这个联盟除了美国外，还有英国、加拿大、澳大利亚和新西兰等4个英语国家。该联盟将全球划分为不同的窃听目标区域，并共享情报。
一名前美国情报官员说，要邀请德国加入这一联盟需征得五国一致同意，而达成这种协议的可能性很低。德美所讨论的协议更可能的结果是，美国方面不再窃听默克尔等德国领导人，也不再为经济原因监听德国公司。
然而，任何类似许诺很大程度上都会落空。美国已经明令禁止为商业动机进行监听，但不管是对盟友还是敌人，这一政策在实际操作中都没有落实。
白宫打算2013年底前彻查美国国家安全局（NSA）的监听活动，且已承认需要加强限制监听，保障隐私权。随着国际上一连串对美国监听行为的不满，美国总统奥巴马也正考虑禁止窃听盟友国家的领导人。