The EU has been listening to the fears of the Italian government which is concerned that its coppers can't listen into Voice over IP traffic.

The Italians are worried that its mobsters are using Skype to plan their murders and crimes to avoid traditional, more easily tapped phone networks. Italy wants a feasibility study into to intercepting Internet telephony in a bid to shut down organised crime.

Carmen Manfredda, Eurojust's acting national member for Italy said in a statement her  aim is not to stop users from taking advantage of Internet telephony, but to prevent criminals from using Skype and other systems to plan and organize their unlawful actions." Eurojust will make all possible efforts to coordinate and assist in the cooperation between Member States," she said.

The big idea is to overcome the technical and judicial obstacles to the interception of Internet telephony systems, taking into account the various data protection rules and civil rights.