EU seeks to salvage passenger data deal with US

Jun 2, 2006, 17:16 GMT

Brussels - European Union officials Friday said they would put in place a temporary deal on sharing passenger data with the United States after an EU court ruling earlier this week said the agreement was illegal.

The interim pact would not change the content of the earlier agreement since the EU court only challenged the legal basis of the deal, not its substance, officials said.

EU justice affairs chief Franco Frattini said the temporary deal would come into force if the EU could not come up with a new legal framework by October 1, the deadline for such an amendment set by the EU court.

'Without an agreement by October 1, there will be a disaster for European airlines' who may face fines or be barred from entering US airports if they fail to provide Washington with key passenger data.

Under the deal, signed initially in 2004, European air carriers are obliged to give US authorities 34 pieces of information about each passenger flying to the US.

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

But the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice earlier this week said the EU's decision to comply with the US demands lacked an 'appropriate legal basis.'

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

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 citizens' fundamental rights and freedoms.

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 rules.