Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday she would talk to French President Francois Hollande about building a European communication network to avoid emails and other data passing through the US.

Merkel, speaking ahead of a visit to France, has been pushing for greater data protection after reports last year about mass surveillance in Germany by the US National Security Agency. Even her mobile phone was reportedly monitored by US spies. It is a sensitive subject in Germany due to the surveillance of citizens in the Communist East Germany.