Brussels, 05/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 5 June, the European Commission reiterated its concerns over the decisions made by Russia, which is to require European airlines flying on its territory to supply personal data on their passengers (PNR) as of 1 July, a measure similar to the one negotiated in 2012 between the European Union and the United States.
The European airlines may be locked out if they do not comply with Moscow's requests. “President Barroso has expressed his concerns”, a spokesperson to the European Commission reiterated on Wednesday. “The EU feels that this would raise major problems in creating a mobility zone between us and the Russian Federation”, he continued. This would put European airlines into a difficult situation and in breach of European law (on data protection and transfer of data to third countries), the spokesperson added. For the time being, the EU has yet to receive an adequate response to its concerns. The spokesperson to Commissioner Cecilia Malmström, Michele Cercone, also pointed out that a moratorium had been called for, to give enough time to analyse, among other things, the impact of this measure called for by Moscow on European airlines. “We expect these measures to be suspended to give us time to gather the information we need”, Cercone said. (SP/transl.fl)