Brussels, 14/06/2006 (Agence Europe) - The United States will broach the delicate issue of the transfer of data on air passengers at the G8 Justice and Home Affairs Conference in Moscow on 15-16 June, the US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff has said, following the annulment of the “legally flawed” 2004 EU-US agreement by the European Court of Justice (see EUROPE 9201) on 30 May. The American administration was “studying the decision … and we want to work with our European counterparts on the way forward,” Mr Chertoff said on 9 June at a conference in Washington. He said that the United States' intention was to continue to expand the Secure Flight Programme. “This kind of information, while not particularly private, is critical for law enforcement authorities and immigration authorities to detect people who should not be allowed to enter the country,” he added.
A new draft EU-US agreement will be presented through the written procedure in the week of 19 June, a Commission spokesperson told EUROPE.