Brussels, 16/06/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs decided on Wednesday to initiate further action before the Court of Justice against the EU/US agreement on recording data on air passengers, an agreement implemented since May (see EUROPE of 16 June, p.13).
Summoned for an extraordinary meeting behind closed doors, the members of the committee voted by 21 votes to 10 in favour of attacking the Council on a question of form as it had taken the decision to conclude the agreement despite opposition expressed by the European Parliament and ignoring EP powers. The members of the EPP-ED Group voted against except Spanish national José Maria Gil-Robles and Giorgos Dimitrakopoulos of Greece.
MEPs also approved by 19 votes to 14 the decision to attack the Commission on content, considering that the rights of European citizens had been violated. All the members of the EPP-ED voted against the decision this time. Many MEPs stressed that the result of elections show that more than ever before there is a need to reaffirm the Parliament's role and defend citizens. This position was defended by the far left in the voice of Alain Krivine and by the right, by Lega Nord elected member Francesco Speroni.
British Conservative Malcolm Harbour said, on the contrary, that the European Parliament would be considered guilty if European citizens were to wait for hours at US customs posts, as no agreement has been reached on passenger data - an oral argument that seems to have caused more irony than support in the ranks.
We recall that the agreement allows US authorities to record data concerning passengers on trans-Atlantic flights in the records of European airline companies in the context of the fight against terrorism. The Council and the Commission had decided to ignore the Parliament opposition on three occasions, and to conclude and sign the agreement. The entry into force of the text, end May, made the EP's request for an opinion obsolete, a request that the EP had filed with the European Court of Justice. In order to reintroduce the appeal, MEPs had to take a decision by 3 August.