Brussels, 30/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 30 March, the S&D Group at the European Parliament expressed its fears about British plans to extend the European PNR programme's scope to flights within the EU and even intra-national flights. It considers that the private life of European citizens would be under threat.
In a press release, British MEP Claude Moraes said that the freedom of movement in the EU is a “fundamental pillar” in the European project, which implies the right of citizens to travel without being subject to any abusive system of questioning.
He added that the use of data to fight terrorism is essential but it should not be disproportionate. He considers that David Cameron's goal of setting up a system for gathering personal data of this scale is “dangerous”.
Moraes said that the S&D Group strongly rejected any attempt by the Commission to extend the scope of the project to intra-EU travel or internal flights. He asserted that any efforts should go in the opposite direction in order to focus exclusively on the collection and exchange of information on people responsible for committing serious crimes. He affirmed that European governments should not be allowed to go beyond this limit. The Council will officially begin to examine the Commission proposal on 11 April in Luxembourg. The EP will jointly decide on the subject. (S.P./transl.fl)