Brussels, 01/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament (EP) civil liberties committee is monitoring the situation very closely with regard to British plans to extend the scope of the European Passenger Name Record (PNR), and, as a first step, will ask the European Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) to update its opinion on this system which, under the Commission's initial proposals, would allow member states to collect and check information on air passengers travelling to the EU from outside the Union or from the EU to non-EU countries. Then, depending on a Council decision, this measure may be extended to flights inside the EU, as a number of national delegations wish.
At this time, the EP (which has co-decision rights on this issue) will deliver its opinion, to be drafted by Timothy Kirkhope (ECR, UK), before summer, an internal source says. It will refer to the Commission's initial proposal of 2 February and, depending on what the Council decides, will take a stance on the PNR system which will also apply to intra-EU flights.
On Wednesday 30 March, member states' representatives held lengthy discussions on the Commission's proposals and on the UK proposal to extend the scope of the European PNR. Several options were put on the table, a source says, between a PNR that applies compulsorily to all internal EU flights, or merely on a voluntary basis, or, as the UK also proposed, a PNR that applies only to certain commercial routes in the EU which are considered to be potentially at risk. The Commission's initial text, which makes provision for re-discussion of an intra-European PNR four years after transposition of the directive was not ruled out, and indeed has the support of a number of influential countries, such as Germany, backed by Austria and Slovenia.
For Germany, extension of the European PNR and its effect raise a number of questions with regard to both European personal data protection rules and the principle of freedom of movement within the EU, a pillar of European integration. The S&D Group in the EP raises similar concerns. An initial opinion from the Council legal department, a source reveals, suggests that, subject to certain conditions, “if the system is well designed”, a European PNR that applies to intra-European flights would not inhibit the principle of freedom of movement in the EU.
This, however, fails to take account of the fact that “this legal opinion also speaks about proportionality”, a source in the EP notes. According to this text, the questions posed by the draft directive on data protection could equally form the subject of another legal opinion, if requested. This is a suggestion which has not escaped the attention of some members of the civil liberties committee. The Council will hold an initial policy debate in Luxembourg on 11 April. (S.P./transl.rt)