Brussels, 05/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - International agreements relating to the transfer of Passenger Name Records (PNR) cause concern for MEPs who discussed the matter on Monday evening in Strasbourg and urged Commissioner Cecilia Malmström to clarify the way talks over recent months have unfolded with the United States, Australia and Canada.
On the strength of several legal analyses, including that by the European Agency for Fundamental Rights and that of the Commission's legal services, which criticised certain aspects of these agreements, and in particular the US agreements, several EP political groups submitted an oral question. They called on the Commission to return to the principle of proportionality for these agreements and their objective, a number of provisions on the duration of data retention possible when data relates to Europeans, and the methods of transferring such data between third countries, such as between the United States and Canada.
The thorniest issue for the EP was the provisional agreement with the United States which implies, for example, a broader field of crimes to be covered, going beyond terrorism, and provides for data to be retained up to 15 years. German Socialist Birgit Sippel said not any method can be used against terrorism, denouncing the fact that the terms of the agreement with the United States are even below the provisions of the terrorist funding agreement, the Swift/TFTP agreement. One cannot stock the data on innocent people for 15 years, she went on, also calling for the PNR agreement to remain confined to combating terrorism - and not to be used for other purposes.
Jan Albrecht (Greens/EFA, Germany) said that everyone felt the same, namely that the usefulness of the agreements had not been demonstrated. He threatened to refer the matter to the European Court of Justice if the texts were adopted. In a more measured way, Sofia In't Veld (ALDE, Netherlands) admitted that the use of PNR data could be useful in certain cases but expressed concern about the long-term storage of data on all Europeans, which is a problem, she said.
Although its timetable remains vague, the EP must give its endorsement to these international agreements that have been renegotiated to replace the current agreements. The Swedish commissioner was confident on Monday evening that consensus would be found between all parties. She also sought to demonstrate to MEPs that improvements had been made compared to the existing agreements. Negotiations continue with these countries, Malmström reassured, saying she was open to as much discussion as possible with MEPs. However, she said, PNR data does have advantages, such as detecting terrorists and criminals, and the EP must not forget certain realities. A country is sovereign, she said, and it may well decide who enters or does not enter its territory. (S.P./transl.jl)