(STOCKHOLM) - A new law in Sweden that allows cross-border emails and phone calls to be monitored in the name of national security violates European Union law, a legal expert who has filed a complaint to the European Commission said on Wednesday.

Robin Loeoef, a Swedish law researcher at the European University Institute in Florence, said the legislation meant lawyers in other EU countries would be at a disadvantage since client-lawyer confidentiality would be compromised.

"If a lawyer in another EU country wants to represent someone in Sweden, the communication between them can no longer be guaranteed. That is discrimination under EU law. Everyone should have equal rights," Loeoef told Swedish Radio.

He said the Swedish law therefore violated the European Union's law on free movement of labour and services.

The controversial legislation, which was narrowly voted through Sweden's parliament in June and is set to take effect next year, will enable the National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA) -- a civilian agency despite its name -- to tap all cross-border Internet and telephone communication.

The law has caused an uproar in Sweden, filling newspaper pages since its adoption. Numerous MPs from the governing coalition claimed they were subjected to intense pressure from party leaders to vote in favour even though they had doubts about it.

Critics have slammed the law as an attack on civil liberties that creates a "big brother" state, amid fears that all emails risk getting caught in FRA's net since even emails sent within Sweden are often transmitted through foreign servers.

Supporters say meanwhile it is necessary to protect the country from foreign threats.

Media reports have said the law is aimed primarily at intercepting Russian data traffic, with some 80 percent of Russia's contacts with much of the world believed to pass through Swedish cables.

A poll published last week showed that 51 percent of Swedes were opposed to the law and 32 percent were in favour.

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has rejected calls to tear up the law, but said last week he was open to the idea of making changes.

One of Sweden's most prominent defence lawyers who has several clients abroad, Leif Silbersky, echoed Loeof's outrage.

"A client who talks to me must know that it will stay between the two of us, but this will be completely illusory if someone is sitting there monitoring our calls," Silbersky said.

The FRA law stipulates that any emails between lawyer and their clients that get caught in the net must be immediately destroyed. But that is not enough of a guarantee, Loeoef said.

European Union law says free movement of labour and services can be suppressed in exceptional cases, such as when there is a threat to national security. But those kinds of exemptions are only valid for specific periods.

"The FRA law is unique in that it makes it possible to have a constant monitoring of communications," he said.

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