On 15 September, the European Commission proposed that the EU Council authorise it to negotiate an agreement on the transfer of air passenger data (‘PNR’) with South Korea, according to a document published in the register of documents.
It has published a draft recommendation for a Council decision authorising the opening of negotiations on “an agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Korea on the transfer of Passenger Name Record data from the European Union to the Republic of Korea for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime”, as well as an annex with negotiation directives.
“Strengthening international cooperation on law enforcement, including information sharing, is essential to address the threats posed by terrorism and serious transnational crimes. (...) Europol’s latest Terrorism Situation and Trend Report (...) stresses not only the direct links between the transnational travel and the organisation of terrorist activities and serious crime, but also the importance of effectively detecting (...) other serious criminal offences”.
PNR data can include travel dates and the full travel itinerary of the passenger or group of passengers travelling together, contact details such as address and telephone number, payment information, seat number and baggage information.
The Republic of Korea has “clearly expressed their interest to the Commission in entering into negotiations with the aim of concluding a PNR Agreement with the European Union since 2008. Contacts intensified as of August 2024, and culminated in a series of written exchanges and meetings in May and June 2025. In particular, in the latter occasions, the Republic of Korea indicated a pressing need to acquire PNR data from EU air carriers, in the light of increasing drug trafficking, which can be linked to incoming European flights”.
The EU has already signed ‘PNR’ Agreements with the United States, Australia and Canada. An agreement of this kind is also being prepared with Japan and Switzerland.
Link to documents: https://aeur.eu/f/in1 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)