In a letter sent to European Commissioners Věra Jourová, Julian King and Dimitris Avramopoulos on 11 April, the Article 29 group – which brings together the national authorities for data protection – expresses concern at the scant progress achieved since summer 2017 on the re-writing of the mandate of the PNR agreement between the EU and Canada. This agreement enables data to be collected from European air passengers visiting Canada.
On 26 July 2017, the European Court of Justice (CJEU) said that the first version of the agreement negotiated between the Commission and Canada violated certain principles in the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The Commission then sought (and in December, obtained) from the EU Council a new negotiation mandate (see EUROPE 11920) but ten months later no significant progress has been achieved to take account of the opinion of the CJEU, either concerning the agreement planned with Canada, or the other PNR files that have been concluded, especially the PNR agreements with Australia and the USA or on the European PNR directive, the group writes.
The authorities are concerned that European law might continue to be applied, furthermore, to other PNR arrangements, although it is not in accordance with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights as interpreted by the CJEU.
The CJEU's opinion on the agreement planned with Canada may not have formal legal effect on other PNR instruments. At the same time, the Article 29 group is convinced that the reasoning of the court is relevant for all PNR instruments, the group writes. It adds that the CJEU's opinion is especially relevant on the principle of the need to have a precise description of the data concerned by the collection or on the exclusion of sensitive data. It is also concerned about the supervision of the agreement and the treatment of data after the stay in Canada.
On Wednesday 18 April, the Commission explained that the negotiations with Canada could only begin once the country has adopted its own mandate. When contacted, the Mission of Canada to the EU had still not replied to the concerns. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)