Brussels, 30/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - Meeting in Luxembourg on 26 April, the home affairs ministers of the countries of the European Union definitively approved the agreement negotiated with the United States on the transfer of European passenger data, the PNR agreement, whereby European airlines will send Europeans' data to the United States Homeland Security Department, which will analyse them as part of the fight against terrorism and serious crime.
Green-lit by the European Parliament on 19 April and in December by the EU home affairs ministers, this agreement replaces an earlier temporary agreement in force since 2007 and will apply for seven years. Under this agreement, the American authorities may keep the PNR data of European travellers for up to 15 years for crimes of terrorism and 10 years for serious crimes, with the data being kept in either case on an active database for five years, then transferred to a dormant database. According to the agreement, these data will be made anonymous after the first six months. The rapporteur of the EP, Sophie In 't Veld (ALDE, Netherlands), recommended that this agreement be rejected on the grounds that, she argues, that it violates European data protection provisions. (SP/transl.fl)