Est. 2min 07-11-2007 (updated: 28-05-2012 ) planes.jpg Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>> Languages: Français | DeutschPrint Email Facebook X LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram The Commission wants all airlines flying to and from the EU to share private data on their passengers, such as passport numbers and credit card details, with Europe’s secret services. While it claims this will help in the fight against terrorism, others fear it will endanger our fundamental right to privacy. Airlines flying to and from the EU would be obliged to transmit 19 pieces of personal data on each of their passengers – including names, travel dates, full itinerary, billing data and baggage information – to designated risk analysis units in the first member state where the plane is to land. Intra-European flights would not be covered by this obligation. The so-called ‘Passenger Information Units’ (PIUs) would then be in charge of assessing travellers’ terrorist risk and identifying those who should be subjected to further enquiries upon their arrival or departure from the country. All information would be kept for five years and then for a further eight years in a “dormant” database, where it could only be accessed in “exceptional circumstances in response to a specific and actual threat related to the prevention or combat of terrorist offences and organised crime”. For reasons of privacy, the proposal excludes the sharing of “sensitive” PNR data, such as racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, and data concerning the health or sex life of the individual. Any such information that is passed on would have to be deleted immediately, it states. The Commission underlined that air carriers already have an obligation, under a 2004 directive, to communicate ‘Advance Passenger Information’ (API) – official biographical data stemming from passports – to the competent authorities of the member states in order to fight illegal immigration, and that the new plan would not put any extra burden on airlines. Read more with Euractiv EU to help auto industry adapt to change The European Commission has announced a new partnership with the automotive industry aimed at better anticipating and coping with recent developments in the sector, including intensified international competition and increasing regulatory pressure to reduce the environmental impacts and security risks related to car use. Subscribe now to our newsletter EU Elections Decoded Email Address * Politics Newsletters PositionsAccording to the European Commission, "terrorist and organised criminals are mobile and increasingly more so. They travel abroad to plan and execute their sinister activities. They fly into and out of the EU using commercial flights. It is important that law enforcement authorities are equipped with the best possible tools to investigate, prevent and disrupt both terrorist and organised crime networks. PNR offer one of those useful tools." It also stressed that its proposals were fully compliant with fundamental rights provisions, "particularly with respect to the protection of personal data and the privacy of the persons". However, data-protection practitioners, legal experts and human-rights groups are against the move. Tony Bunyan, editor of Statewatch, a group devoted to monitoring civil liberties in Europe, commented: "This is yet another measure that places everyone under surveillance and makes everyone a 'suspect' without any meaningful right to know how the data is used, how it is further processed and by whom." He added: "There is little evidence that the gathering of 'mountain upon mountain' of data on the activities of every person in the EU makes a significant contribution [to tackling terrorism]." Dutch Liberal MEP Sophie in 't Veld called on the Commission not to override civil liberties in its pursuit of terrorists: "We should not forget that it is not only lives that we are trying to protect from terrorists but our democracy too." She urged the Commission not to compound "the mistakes of the July PNR agreement with the US by introducing our own – at least until there is serious and irrefutable proof that such mass exchange of personal data is resulting in the arrest of terrorists." She also criticised the Commission's double approach to the issue of data protection, saying: "It is disingenuous of the Commission to tell us in July that they fought to resist US demands for an intrusive system only to propose a similar system themselves four months later." "These proposals will bypass parliamentary scrutiny and judicial oversight and only a secret committee will evaluate their effectiveness," she lamented. Dutch Green MEP and civil liberties spokesperson Kathalijne Buitenweg agreed that the proposal seemed "unnecessary and incoherent". "The Commission has made no attempt to justify why these measures are necessary and why the existing legislation is not sufficient," she said, pointing to an existing directive on passenger data from 2004, which requires airlines to transfer data on the identity of their passengers to the authorities of the destination country after check-in, but which most member states have still not brought into operation. BackgroundFollowing the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, the United States demanded that its security agencies have access to the personal information provided by passengers when booking a plane ticket, including their names and addresses, as well as information about their credit cards, email addresses, telephone numbers and hotel or car reservations - Passenger Name Records (PNR). Airlines that refused to provide the requested data before take-off were threatened with a withdrawal of their US landing authorisation. The EU – with its strong historical commitment to protecting citizens' fundamental rights – itself had no such scheme in place, and the conclusion of a deal allowing European airlines to transfer their passengers' personal details to the US turned out to be a lengthy and controversial process, which only came to an end in July 2007 (EURACTIV 24/07/07). Now, however, the EU is considering introducing a similar scheme across its territory, in an effort to step up the fight against terrorism, notably following the exposure of an alleged terrorist plot to smuggle liquid explosives onto aircrafts in London's Heathrow airport in August 2006 (EURACTIV 21/08/06). Timeline 6 Dec. 2007: Ministers are expected to approve the framework decision. It would then enter into force immediately after its publication in the Official Journal. Further ReadingEU official documents Commission (press release):Proposal for a COUNCIL FRAMEWORK DECISION on the use of Passenger Name Record (PNR) for law enforcement purposes(6 November 2007) Political Groups Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE):Reservations over the European PNR proposal(6 November 2007) Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE):New EU anti-terrorism measures will further erode our civil liberties(5 November 2007) NGOs and Think-Tanks Statewatch:PNR (passenger name record) scheme proposed to place under surveillance all travel in and out of the EU
