Brussels, 13/09/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Union is still waiting to see whether the United States intends to conclude an agreement with it before 1 October on the transfer of airline passenger data (PNR- Passenger Name Record). "I hope that the United States will agree to our proposals", said Commissioner Franco Frattini, speaking to the committee on civil liberties of the EP on Tuesday. For the time being, the American administration and the EU have reached "an agreement in principle", aiming to negotiate the agreement in two stages, said Mr Frattini. At the first negotiation meeting on 8 August, the Council proposed to the American representatives that both parties first of all sign an interim agreement to expire at the end of 2007, on the basis of the contents of the current agreement, and that they immediately afterwards embark on negotiations for a definitive agreement, to be applicable as of 1 January 2008, and the contents of which will be renegotiated. "The United States have indicated that they are prepared to enter into substantial negotiations" on this second agreement, said Mr Frattini. A second meeting with the Americans will most probably take place on 18 October. On this occasion, "I hope that it will be possible for us to move forward and that the Americans will agree to our proposals", the Commission added. The rapporteur, Sophia In't Veld (ADLE, Netherlands), asked whether the United States intended to make their commitments on the protection and use of the data legally binding (featuring in the annexes). Mr Frattini replied that, for the negotiation of the interim agreement, the EU had insisted that the agreement be adopted as it stood, so that such provisions would have to be ratified once again by Congress. On the ratification procedure, in which the MEPs wish to see the national parliaments involved, Mr Frattini explained that an international treaty signed by the EU with a third country could enter into force immediately, without waiting for the ratification process to be concluded (article 24 of the Treaty of the EU). The Commissioner once again warned of the risks of not being able to finalise an agreement in time, stressing the need to avoid "legal anarchy". Most of the MEPs agreed that a bad agreement would be better than no agreement at all.