Brussels, 15/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, the EU decided to postpone opening the thorny discussions with the United States on the transfer of air passenger data, commonly called Passenger Name Records (PNRs). A first contact was planned for Thursday evening by video-conference between the German presidency, assisted by the Commission, and US authorities. However, due to reservation expressed by the Dutch delegation, formal adoption of the negotiating brief by the justice and home affairs ministers did not take place, as the Netherlands parliament had to give its endorsement beforehand. “The conference with the Americans was therefore cancelled”, a diplomatic source pointed out. The final proposal for the mandate, which had, however, been the subject of consensus at the level of EU ambassadors on Wednesday, should therefore be adopted during a forthcoming Council. The aim is to reach a new agreement by July to replace the interim agreement concluded last October, which was already aimed at replacing a first text cancelled by the European Court of Justice (EUROPE 9281). (bc)