Individual governments will be able to decide how long service providers will be obliged to keep data, which will not include the actual substance of communications. The Directive, which was put forward by Britain after the 7/7 bomb attacks in London, passed by 378 votes in favour to 197 against and 30 abstentions.

Police and intelligence agencies will have access to call records (including data on lost calls), location information and internet logs for the detection, investigation and prosecution of specified forms of serious criminal offence (terrorism and organised crime), and not for the mere prevention of all kinds of crime. The Parliament excluded a clause which would have made it mandatory for governments to reimburse the costs incurred by operators.

The measures will require firms to store:

• data that can trace fixed or mobile telephone calls;
• time and duration of calls;
• location of the mobile phone being called;
• details of connections made to the Internet; and
• details, but not the content, of internet e-mail and internet telephony services.

Details of connected calls that are unanswered, which can be used as signals to accomplices or used to detonate bombs, will also be archived where that data exists.

UK Home Secretary Charles Clarke said the approval showed the European institutions - the Parliament, the Council, the Commission - standing firm against terrorism and serious organised crime. "This sends a powerful message that Europe is united against terrorism and organised crime," he said. "All three institutions have worked closely together and been willing to compromise in order to reach agreement on this important measure."

Under the EU's co-decision procedure, the Directive now goes back to the Council for final approval. The Council can accept or reject the Parliament's draft, but cannot amend it.

The costs involved are likely to be substantial, and individual governments will come under pressure to pay them. One large operator said it estimated that it would cost Euros40m to implement the Directive, with ongoing annual costs of Euros15m.

Earlier in the month, Ireland said it would take its case against the proposed regime before the ECJ if it was approved by the European Parliament.