On Monday 28 November, European Commissioner for the Security Union Julian King presented an implementation plan for the directive setting up registers for air passenger data – the famous passenger name record (PNR) directive – which was adopted last April (see EUROPE 11537).
With 11 member states still not having started work in October on transposition of the PNR directive, the Commission wants to speed the process up and make the directive operational by May 2018 at the latest. The PNR directive is aimed at preventing terrorist attacks in the EU.
In its implementation plan, the Commission firstly observes that one of the big challenges to be met is to introduce into national legislation the principle of collecting and handling air passengers' personal data, and to provide the required safeguards for data protection, particularly the arrangements provided for in the directive on the handling of personal data as part of police and judicial cooperation.
When transposing the PNR directive, member states must clearly indicate the police databases from which the collected PNR data will be studied. They must also define the main principles governing the creation, updating and functioning of pre-determined criteria for handling PNR data, the Commission says in a report published on Monday 28 November, which was sent to the Slovak Presidency of the EU Council and the European Parliament.
The member states must thus identify and appoint the national authorities or authority which will house the PNR data handling unit. They must also identify how these authorities will be incorporated into their administrative structure. The handling unit will have to have an appropriate technical infrastructure to allow the storage, handling and analysis of PNR data in line with the arrangements in the directive.
The personnel responsible for collecting and handling these data must receive adequate training to be able to carry out their analysis. Appropriate solutions must still be developed so that the units of the different member states can exchange their PNR data effectively and in a timely manner, the Commission report states.
Four countries already in working order. The Commission has taken stock of the following: - four member states currently have operational (or nearly operational) PNR systems and a specific legal base providing for the collection or handling of PNR data; - 12 member states are at different stages of completing the technical infrastructure and adopting specific legislation on PNR; - and 11 countries are still at a relatively early stage of the implementation process, with the concrete acquisition and development of the infrastructure still to be started.
Nevertheless, some of these 11 member states have already worked on detailed plans, accompanied by concrete time periods. These 11 states include Germany, Greece, Poland, Austria, Malta, Hungary, Slovakia, Ireland and Luxembourg. Denmark is not involved in PNR the directive because of its opt-out from this domain.
The Commission meets member states and the European police cooperation office (Europol) regularly in order to ensure this transposition. It has made new financial aid of €70 million available, in addition to the €50 million already provided. A call for projects, which runs until 12 January, has been launched in the countries needing assistance. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)