BRUSSELS, Oct. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- European Union (EU) interior ministers agreed on Wednesday that phone records must be kept for at least 12 months, and e-mail data for at least six, to help the fight against terror.

    At a meeting in Luxembourg, the ministers mandated UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke to negotiate with the European Parliament to get its agreement.

    The parliament has argued that such a law would violate civil liberties.

    Clarke said governments would pass a law without the European Parliament's involvement unless there was a deal by December.

    A compromise proposal put forward by the British presidency of the EU offers an olive branch to the parliament, suggesting that the retention period could be capped at two years.

    It also says that each state can decide for itself how the industry should be compensated for the costs involved.

    The decision comes after years of debate about the cost of suchmeasures and their impact on civil liberties, as well as disagreement about the length of time data should be stored.

    Currently, data retention laws vary widely from country to country within the 25 members of the EU, fifteen of which have no law in the area at all.

    Ireland and Italy already have laws obliging telecoms companiesto keep data for three and four years, respectively. Enditem