Brussels, 14/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 14 July, the European commissioner for internal affairs, Cecilia Malmström, announced that in September she would propose the renegotiation of the agreement on Passenger Name Records (PNR), in the fight against terrorism, with three countries: the US, Canada and Australia. The commissioner informed a number of journalists that “in September we will propose negotiation mandates for these three countries to clarify a few issues, also taking into consideration what the EP has said in its two resolutions”. According to the commissioner, these three countries have agreed to renegotiate these agreements with the Commission. The Parliament has indicated that if the agreements negotiated by the EU with these countries remain as they are, it might reject them. The commissioner indicated that “the mandate will be on access, on purpose, on retention time, on criteria, and of course on data protection and possibilities to redress”. She also explained that these principles would at the same time be the subject of a communication. Is renegotiation of the PNR agreement with the US as urgent as the agreement on Swift? The commissioner emphasised that “there is no security breach, as was the case with the TFTP, but I think that these negotiations will not be easy”. She also said that she was drawing confidence from the prevailing good atmosphere with the Americans. Last Week, the US secretary of state, Janet Napolitano, said that renegotiating certain points of the current agreement was “unrealistic” (EUROPE 10179). In September, the Commission will therefore propose three new negotiating mandates, accompanied by a communication. The proposal on the European PNR is, however, not expected until later. (B.C./transl.fl)