U.S.-EU talks on transfer of airline passenger records (PNR) stal...
U.S.-EU talks on transfer of airline passenger records (PNR) stalled over the weekend, as the previous agreement expired. Under the PNR, airlines had to give the U.S. 34 pieces of data on travelers bound for the U.S., including phone…
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numbers and e-mail addresses. The EC seemed optimistic Fri. that a new pact would be reached quickly, but said Sun. it was no-go. A draft proposal sent Fri. by U.S. Homeland Security Secy. Michael Chertoff to EC Vp Franco Frattini has been “initialed by the U.S. government only,” not the EU, as was reported, Frattini’s spokesman said Mon. The proposal is up for discussion at an Oct. 5-6 meeting of EU justice and home affairs ministers, he said. The European Parliament, whose challenge led the European Court of Justice to void the PNR pact resulted for having the wrong basis in legal theory, voted in Sept. to approve a report urging a 2-step approach to talks: (1) An interim pact, extending the previous terms, to stay in effect until Nov. 2007. (2) Renegotiation of the agreement. Later in Sept., Frattini told MEPs the U.S. was ready to okay that tack. But now it’s unclear what terms the U.S. draft contains, and the EC isn’t talking. The Commission urged the U.S. to keep applying the lapsed agreement’s data protection safeguards until a new agreement is reached to avoid the “risk of legal uncertainty and disruption to EU-U.S. flights.” The International Air Transport Assn. hopes justice ministers quickly approve the proposal this week, it said: “The 105,000 passengers who fly between Europe and the U.S. each day can be reassured that both Secretary Chertoff and Vice President Frattini have said that there should be no disruption of air service and it will be business as usual.”