The European Union said it has ordered a security sweep of EU buildings after reports that a US spy agency had bugged EU offices in Belgium and the United States.

Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the EU's executive Commission, "has instructed the competent Commission services to proceed to a comprehensive ... security sweep and check," Commission spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen told reporters.

The EU is demanding clarification from the United States after the spying allegations were reported by Der Spiegel magazine.

The US ambassador to the EU was called in for consultations with the EU's top diplomat.

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