Brussels, 26/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 25 September, the president of the European Parliament civil liberties committee, Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar (S&D, Spain) asked Commissioner Cecilia Malmström to provide an explanation to MEPs about the suspected unlimited transfers of European airline passenger data to the US, as reported that day in the Spanish press.
According to the media, several European airlines were asked to transfer their passengers' data to the US authorities for flights that were not landing on US soil nor flying there, and which were only flying over US airspace. This goes beyond the framework set out between the Commission and Washington and approved by the Parliament last April. In a letter addressed to be Commissioner and signed on behalf of all committee political coordinators, Lopez Aguilar indicated that after a long battle, the Parliament had decided to ratify this international agreement on the basis of guarantees and clear explanations on the contents of the agreement that it had reached with the European Commission. If the information in the Spanish press is verified, there will be no legal basis for covering this kind of data provided to the US authorities and this would undoubtedly change the context of the agreement validated by the Parliament, explained Lopez Aguilar. Commissioner Malmström has also been invited to provide an explanation on this matter on 11 October, during the Parliamentary committee.
On Wednesday 26 September, the Commission's services explained that the EU/US PNR (Passenger Name Record) agreement only affected flights flying over US airspace. Some of the data of the passengers not travelling to the US could, however, be provided to the US authorities in compliance with US legislation. This so-called Advanced Passenger Information (API) is not, however, covered by any international agreement and the Commission is not currently planning any initiative in this field.
On 19 April 2012 in Strasbourg, MEPs approved the PNR agreements negotiated between the EU and the US, after a battle lasting several years. The rapporteur on this matter, Sophie In't Veld (ALDE the Netherlands) had appealed to her colleagues to reject this agreement, but to no avail. These PNR agreements aim to prevent acts being committed by terrorists and organised crime. They involve European airlines sending their passenger data (name, address, mode of payment etc.) to the US Department of Homeland Security, which analyses the data upstream to the flight. The agreement includes data retention that can last for up to a period of 15 years. (SP/trans.fl)