Brussels, 01/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - Sophie In't Veld, the European Parliament (EP) rapporteur on the EU-United States agreement on the transfer of information on European air passengers to the American Department of Homeland Security (the PNR system), will recommend in her report that the agreement, which was approved by the Commission and Washington in November and signed by the Council on 13 December, should be rejected, she said on Tuesday 31 January. The Dutch MEP, a member of the ALDE Group, is unhappy with a number of points in the agreement (which his due to replace the current agreement that has been applied since 2007 but that has not been approved by the EP) primarily because it does not meet the criteria set by the European Parliament in its 2010 resolutions, and is not in line with EU legislation, she says in a press release. The scope of the agreement is too wide, she argues, covering immigration and border control, in addition to terrorism and serious crime. Under the agreement, data may be retained for up to 15 years for terrorism-related crime. This retention period is much longer, In't Veld says, than the maximum 5-year period in the PNR agreement with Australia. This is despite the commitment to make data anonymous after six months. The “push” methods, presented as an improvement by the Commission, which involves the airlines themselves transferring passengers' data to the American authorities, needs to be made secure, the rapporteur says. “The 'pull' method (where the US authorities enter databases to pull out the information) for the transfer of data will be retained, contrary to the explicit demand of the European Parliament”, she says. This means that the American authorities will still be able to enter European computer systems, as they have been able to do in the past and have done “tens of thousands” of times “per month”, In't Veld goes on. The 2011 agreement makes provision for some exceptions to precedence for the “push” method, for example when airlines do not have the appropriate technical capability. In general terms, the rapporteur sees no improvement on the initial 2004 agreement, and this includes on the treatment of sensitive data (medical information, religion, sex-life, etc). The new agreement still allows their use, she says, a worsening of the situation from 2004. Another concern is that Europeans will have restricted recourse to US courts, though the Americans challenge this. Last week, American representatives said in Brussels that, while, under the Patriot Act, European citizens did not have the same opportunities as Americans for recourse to the courts and damages, there was still a raft of other laws that could be used and gave them equal rights with US citizens.
On 13 December, home affairs ministers adopted the new agreement without the support of Germany and Austria. These two countries abstained, concerned that the guarantees on the protection and retention of European data and on methods of recourse to US courts were insufficient.
Under the terms of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Parliament has to approve international PNR agreements. A great deal is at stake. Rejection by the EP would cast airlines into total legal uncertainty, with the companies transferring data to the US Department of Homeland Security though this would be illegal as the PNR agreement had not been approved by the EP. European airlines would also be running the risk of being banned from operating in America, the US having made such a ban one of the conditions for signing the agreement with the EU. Will the groups in the EP follow the line taken by In't Veld, however? The EPP has indicated that it will vote to approve the new EU-US agreement, believing that appropriate legal and data protection guarantees have been won. The stance taken by the S&D could be decisive. At this point, the group's spokesman said, the text is being analysed and there are meetings to be held with Commission and Council experts, and also with American experts with whom meetings will be sought at the next plenary session in Strasbourg. Officially, the S&D is neither for nor against the agreement at this stage, though some sources are predicting that the Socialists and Democrats will probably vote with the EPP and ratify the agreement. In't veld will present her position to the civil liberties committee on 27 February, with the committee vote on the report coming probably in March and the plenary session vote in April. (SP/transl.rt)