The EU Council is concerned about the lack of progress in negotiations on an EU-Canada agreement on the transfer of air passenger data for counter-terrorism purposes (PNR) and is expected to express its concerns in a letter to the Canadian administration, according to an EU Council Presidency document seen by EUROPE.
The EU-Canada agreement was struck down by the EU Court of Justice in 2017 and has since been under renegotiation, but the Europeans note that “since 2019, further progress has been blocked” while “the five rounds of negotiations in 2018 and 2019 have resulted in a draft agreement that sets high standards for security and privacy, while adequately addressing our legal concerns”.
“It is therefore with concern that we note” the lack of progress, with the Europeans deeming “the conclusion of the agreement even more urgent because of the legal vulnerability of the current transfers of PNR data to Canada, which are still taking place on the basis of a temporary solution adopted more than 12 years ago”. The EU Council continues to hope that the new agreement can be initialled by the end of the year. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)