Frattini to propose giving up passenger privacy to uncover terror plots[fr][de] 

The idea is that European governments would have access to a database containing the names and addresses of travellers, but also information about their credit card, email addresses, telephone numbers and hotel or car reservations. 

"The information would be handed to the government of the country a person was flying to and would only be used for anti-terrorism purposes," said the spokesman. Data would likely be held for three years. 

However, it is probable that Frattini will find it difficult to get his plan approved. Indeed, in order to comply with US anti-terror requirements, the Council signed an agreement with the latter, in May 2004 , forcing airlines to give US authorities personal data regarding passengers on planes flying to or through the United States. 

Civil liberties groups and the European Parliament immediately took issue, arguing that the agreement did not provide sufficient protection for European passengers travelling to the US. 

In September 2004 , the European Parliament brought the case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), accusing the Commission of misuse of powers, breach of fundamental rights and of the principle of proportionality. It also appealed for annulment of the Council decision adopting the agreement. 

The ECJ delivered its judgement on 30 May 2006, declaring that the Council decision was not “founded on an appropriate legal basis”. The Court gave the EU and the US until 30 September 2006 to renegotiate the deal. EU officials have said that they will not be looking to alter the substance of the agreements, despite Parliament’s concerns, but rather to make its underpinnings conform to European law. 

Although the plan currently suggested by Commissioner Frattini will not entail the transfer of personal data to third countries, the content of the proposal is likely to be very similar to that of the agreement signed in 2004 with the US and will probably also prove highly controversial among civil liberties groups and MEPs. 

Friso Roscam Abbing, spokesman for Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini, says that making passenger name records available to European governments “forms part of an arsenal of tools which should be at least at the disposal of law-enforcement authorities.” He also commented that the proposal - which is still being refined - will not include sharing information about religion, health conditions or dietary requirements. "We are obliged to put forward proposals which ensure a respect for fundamental rights but which also makes sense for law-enforcement authorities," he said. 

"As we face the threat of mass murder we have to accept that the rights of the individual that we enjoy must and will be balanced with the collective right of security and the protection of life and limb that our citizens demand," said UK Home Secretary John Reid.

Dr Chris Pounder, a data protection specialist with the law firm Pinsent Masons, said: “The Commission seems to be going down the path of exploiting the ECJ judgment. It announced that the content of the current agreement has not been criticised by the Court and should therefore continue… This is economical with the truth. Because the Court ruled that the agreement was unlawful it didn't deal with the substantial data-protection issues raised by the Parliament. These still remain."