Brussels, 12/03/2003 (Agence Europe) - All the different political groups have protested during the plenary session on Wednesday against the Commission agreeing to granting the USA access to air passenger data for flights over their territory, which has been in force since 5 march (EUROPE 5 March p 14). All the groups, except the EP have requested that this be suspended. MEPs would also have liked to have been consulted earlier. Commissioners Patten and Bolkestein defended themselves by giving assurances that discussions with the USA had allowed them to strengthen data protection and included a measure that would have been applied by the airlines in any case.
Speaking on behalf of the EPP-ED, the President of the Public Freedoms Committee, Jorge Hernadez Mollar, demanded respect for the directive on personal data protection and declared that this directive had not been respected. In the joint declaration signed in mid-February, between Commission officials and the USA for organising this access to data, he condemned the priority given to the aims of the USA to the detriment of European law. Mr Hernandez Mollar insisted on the need to obtain a "very clear definition of this data, which could be transmitted to the USA, as well as the conditions for their use and the obtaining of a consensus on them. Elena Paciotti (PES) requested that the Parliament went to the Court of Justice if the Commission did not provide data protection. Liberal, Sarah Ludford was also very critical, pointing out that the President of the group of national authorities for data protection, Rodota, had requested the postponement of the entry into force of these data transfers. Alexandros Alvanos (GUE/NGL) asked whether the USA was an "international police force" that allowed itself access to very personal data, such as health or diet details. Kathalinen Buitenweg (Greens/EFA) criticised the "blackmail" exercised by the USA, judging that it did not warrant an exception. She was not happy with the choice of not going to the USA or getting a take-away sandwich, which affected those who did not want their diet details known about. Messrs Patten and Bolkestein had opened the discussion with the assurance that the Commission had done its "utmost" to convince the United States it should agree to slightly review its copy. The United States "only began to take European concerns seriously in December" and, since then, the Commission considers it has managed to obtain guarantees from the US regarding the use that will be made of data. Frits Bolkestein said "we had to be pragmatic". He said air companies would at any rate have accepted American demands given the threat of sanctions. These threats are "unacceptable, but without discussion the data would have been transferred without protection". Both insisted on the fact that the joint declaration of mid-February is not an agreement in the legal sense of the term. Both parties will begin negotiating an agreement in good and due form. In the meantime, if complaints are filed by passengers, the courts will decide, Commissioner Bolkestein said.