Mass surveillance and spying are NOT the same. Spying is/was a targeted measure and will probably always exist, but mass surveillance targets every single citizen and therefor means "Death to democracy", even if you won't feel it, because it happens gradually and behind-the-scenes ("unfortunate events" will happen more often and we will not know why, how and who).
EDIT: And don't count on ANY government to do anything significant about mass surveillance. Every govt wants it, because it simply means "power over the people". Nothing will happen without an immense pressure from the citizen and consumer. Besides voting, we have a "purchasing power" and we should start using it.
That's naive. Germany has not defended itself enough against US activities in Germany. This is especially ugly, since the US has many military and intelligence installations in Germany. Germany does not have the same in the US. If the US wants to stay in Germany, they need to adjust the targets of their operations. Remember, the US military is no longer defending West Europe from its bases in Germany. It runs world-wide military and intelligence operations from Germany. We have bases from which wars in Asia and Africa are supported or even coordinated (the US central military command for Africa is located here).
It's not spying as Germans 'spy' on the US. It's a completely different thing and scale.
Besides, the article only says that this is being considered and that talks (probably) haven't even started yet.
Up to recently, the German cabinet claimed to be content with the affirmation of U.S. officials to only work within the boundaries of German and U.S. laws.
The level of blind trust in "our allies" was astonishing, for example they called allegations backed by the Snowden documents "unfounded".
Few months ago they've sent a few secretaries over to negotiate an non-binding letter of "no spy" intent, that the U.S. obviously didn't want to agree to (because no autonomous state would).
So, now they finally seem to have come to the conclusion that indeed we (as a state) are spied upon, for a myriad of reasons, which is quite an accomplishment for these naíve guys and girls.