EU court blocks EU-US deal on airline passenger data

May 30, 2006, 14:28 GMT

Brussels - The European Union's highest court Tuesday blocked an agreement between the EU and the United States on sharing passenger data, saying it had no legal basis.

Under the controversial agreement, European air carriers have been obliged to give US authorities 34 pieces of information about each passenger flying to the US.

Washington had argued the information is vital to fight terrorism following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and had warned that airlines would face fines of up to 4,700 euros (6,000 dollars) and lose landing rights if they did not comply.

The Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice said the EU's decision to declare US data protection 'adequate' lacked an 'appropriate legal basis.'

The European Commission took the decision under the EU Data Protection Directive, but the directive does not apply to data collected for security purposes.

The court gave EU member states until September 30, 2006 to find a new legal solution.

The commission said it will work with the US on a new agreement. A spokesman for the EU executive said that the court's ruling was not about the content of the data deal but about its legal basis only.

Data collected under the deal are called passenger name records, or PNRs. They include information such as credit card numbers, travel itineraries, addresses and telephone numbers.

The commission and EU governments signed the deal with the US in May 2004, triggering an outcry among data protection experts.

The European Parliament took the issue to the European Court of Justice, arguing that the deal endangers European citizen's fundamental rights and freedoms.

European and US officials said the passenger data would only be used to fight terrorism and other serious crimes.

Since March 2003, the EU and the US have been exchanging data under an informal arrangement. But airlines had argued for a permanent legal settlement.

The EU struck a similar deal with Canada last year that transfers passenger names to the Canada Border Services Agency, which has promised to treat the information in line with EU data protection.