An influential EU parliament committee Thursday rejected a controversial agreement giving US security agencies …
An influential EU parliament committee Thursday rejected a controversial agreement giving US security agencies access to the personal data of European airline passengers.
The compilation of passenger name records (PNR) was one of a raft of unilateral measures imposed by US authorities after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
After objecting to the scheme for months, the European Commission, the EU`s executive arm, signed a deal in December agreeing to exchange passenger data under certain conditions.
But the accord was provisional pending approval by the EU legislature — and that approval is by no means guaranteed after the parliament`s citizens` rights committee condemned the arrangement out of hand.
In a report, the committee objected notably to the number of PNR items sought by the United States to identify potential terrorists (34) — including credit card numbers, phone numbers and meal preferences.
The Dutch Liberal lawmaker who wrote the report, Johanna Boogerd-Quaak, accused the US government of threatening to withdraw the landing rights of European airlines if the EU had not agreed to the data transfer.
She reaffirmed a threat by the European Parliament to take the commission to court to rule on the legality of the PNR agreement.
The balanced way in which the committee is approaching this matter sends a strong signal to our citizens that we will protect their rights, she said. If we give away our freedoms in the fight against terrorism, the terrorists will have won.
The committee demanded that Europeans be given access to their data so they can correct any mistakes, in line with EU data protection law — for which there is no US equivalent.
It also condemned the lack of redress for people who are denied entry to the United States on the basis of their PNR information.
And it expressed concern at the number of different US agencies that have access to the personal data.
The MEPs said that EU member states should immediately review the PNR scheme to get it in line with EU and domestic privacy laws, and to require airlines and travel agencies to obtain passengers` consent before handing over the data.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
