The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, recommended on Friday 27 September, in the margins of the 'EU-Asia Connectivity Forum', that the EU Council give the Commission a mandate to negotiate with Japan an agreement on the transfer and use of Passenger Name Record (PNR) data. This international agreement is supposed to prevent terrorist attacks by allowing police forces, on the basis of data collected by airlines, to detect individuals with suspect profiles.
It will concern airlines travelling to and from Japan to the EU and vice versa.
This agreement, which the European Parliament will have to ratify, will be the fourth international PNR agreement that the EU will have concluded with a third country, after those with: - the United States, controversial for a long time and blocked by the Parliament; - Australia, more consensual agreement; - Canada, invalidated by the Court of Justice of the European Union and under renegotiation after the Parliament challenged it in court.
The Commission's proposal does not detail the desired retention period for PNR data for this agreement with Japan, the details to be specified later, but the agreement will be concluded for a period of seven years. The basic principle is not to provide for a period of detention beyond what is necessary and to take into account all the legislation of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Independent assessments and mechanisms to safeguard fundamental rights in the event violations or misuse of data should also be specified in the mandate.
Recently, the agreement with Australia - which provides for a five-year retention period - was automatically renewed for a further seven years (see EUROPE 12322/19). (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)