Brussels, 19/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 18 October, the European Court of Justice began its examination of the agreement concluded between the European Union and the United States on the transfer of air passengers' data to American security agencies. The European Parliament is challenging this agreement which, since March 2003, has allowed 34 types of data to be transferred between the European booking systems and the databases of the American authorities. The data transmitted includes a great deal of information: the names of the passengers, their contacts, telephone numbers, addresses, e-mail, payment information, bank account numbers and data pertaining to the payment card, including the credit limit. Last June, the European Parliament said that promises made by Washington and Brussels, that these transfers would respect the private nature of this information, were insufficient.
If a judgment by the European Court of Justice cancels this agreement, Franco Frattini, the Commissioner in charge of Justice, Liberty and Security, would then have to resolve to review provisions on an adequate level of protection for data of a personal nature contained within the files on air passengers, which would doubtless have an impact on EU/United States cooperation on the fight against terrorism and organised crime. The final decision of the Court is not expected until next year.