"What happened in Schiphol should be put under serious consideration at the highest level," said Italian MEP Salvatore Iacolino (European People's Party), vice-president of the European Parliament's committee on civil liberties, justice and home affairs.
According to reports, two Yemeni men are currently being held by Dutch police on suspicion of having carried out a so-called 'dry-run' to test security systems as part of a possible terrorist plot.
They landed in Amsterdam from Chicago, although they had tickets to fly to Washington and later to Dubai. In addition, security checks in the US revealed cell phones and watches taped together to resemble to an explosive in their luggage, as well as knives and a box cutter.
One of the men was also carrying 7,000 US dollars with him. Nevertheless, both were allowed to fly to Europe. Their luggage was instead flown from Chicago to Washington.
"Regardless of the results of the investigation on the two suspects, it is astonishing that the US security system did not prevent abandoned luggage from being carried from Chicago to Washington," said Claude Moraes, S&D (Socialists & Democrats) spokesperson on civil liberties, home affairs and justice.
PNR negotiations
"Ahead of a new round of EU-US negotiations on the Passenger Name Record Agreement, we expect Washington to examine their approach to security and understand that what we need is not 'more' but 'better'," Moraes concluded.
Asked whether the scare could toughen the Parliament's demands in ongoing negotiations over a new deal on the controversial issue of PNR, Iacolino said the EU assembly would push to obtain the maximum level of guarantees for European citizens.
The European Commission is expected to present a proposal on a draft mandate to negotiate a new agreement with third parties, including the US, by 21 September.
In a resolution adopted in May, MEPs made clear that "in no circumstances may PNR data be used for data mining or profiling," adding that "no 'no-fly' decision or decision to investigate or prosecute may ever be taken on the sole results of such automated searches or browsing of databases". Moreover, "use of data must be limited to specific crimes or threats, on a case-by-case basis".
An ongoing case shows that these conditions are not being met by the existing deal. In September 2009, an adviser to the European Parliament flying to Mexico was redirected because the crew discovered the passenger was on a US 'no-fly' list.
US authorities refused to tell the man, Paul-Emile Dupret, why he had been put on a 'no-fly' list but he suspects it may have been related to an earlier apprehension by airport security in Miami on the way back from a parliamentary mission in Nicaragua.
The US authorities questioned Dupret about several articles he had written about South American politics, even asking him if he had links to Venezuelan left-wing leader Hugo Chavez.
"All the security flaws confirm to us that only cooperation and a constructive dialogue can guarantee the security of citizens," said Iacolino, underlining that the Parliament is waiting for a draft negotiating mandate from the European Commission. He expressed confidence that this would reflect MEPs' demands.
