A proposal by US President Barack Obama to end the controversial bulk collection of data by the National Security Agency will be debated in congress on Friday. The move is being seen as a clear concession to European concerns. But it is unlikely to stop the EU from pursuing its own new data network.

As the US sought closer ties with Europe over Ukraine this week, President Barack Obama announced he would seek an end to the bulk collection of data by America’s National Security Agency.

The NSA snooping program had a thorn in the side of EU ES relations, but European politicians say an about-turn will not stop the bloc seeking its own data network.

The European Parliament is even calling for a data bill of rights.

"The European Union is looking at the way data is transferred by companies, it’s looking at the way the NSA behaved overall, it’s looking at the way our own intelligence services behaved in regards to it’s own citizens so he started a debate as we have never seen before." European Parliament’s UK Member Claude Moraes said.

European Internet firms say with less trust in US networks an EU data cloud could also makes good business sense.

"What the EU has realized it’s a gap in the market if we can create a European cloud so if companies want to set up, want to put their data onto the cloud they don’t have to turn to US companies that already host servers they can turn to and that’s a key thing there that they actually see this as an economic opportunity." Akash Radia, program associate of Int’l Security Service Europe, said.

But in the EU progress on anything from a new data network to simple legislation takes time.

"To build such a legal system where 28 countries can agree on something together it would take like ten years so about the idea, yes they want to collect the data, but about the feasibility of this it’s really another question." Francois Ducrotte, program manager of Int’l Security Service Europe, said.

It’s also not clear that a new, EU-based data network would better protect Europeans.

Although most of the recent focus has been on US activities, it’s now known that countries including France, Germany, and Sweden have also been carrying out mass surveillance programs on Europeans.