MEPs’ first job after elections: sue Council

By David Cronin

Date: 10/06/04

TAKING EU governments to court over the controversial decision to conclude a deal on transferring airline passenger data to the US looks set to be the first major issue which the European Parliament will tackle following this week's elections (10-13 June).

Two meetings have been convened at the assembly's Brussels headquarters for next Wednesday (16 June) on how it should handle the Passenger Name Record (PNR) accord widely criticized by civil liberties groups due to concerns that the data protection regime in the US is not sufficiently robust.

The meetings are of the Parliament's legal affairs committee and its political group leaders.

Graham Watson, head of the Liberal group in the outgoing Parliament, has drafted a proposal under which the European Court of Justice would be asked to vindicate the assembly's right to challenge the accord.

This follows advice from the Parliament's legal service that a previous decision to challenge the draft accord was no longer tenable after the EU's foreign ministers opted last month to carry on regardless with finalizing the accord.

"We want to take action to protect the Parliament's prerogatives," Watson told European Voice.

"Technically, the Council [of Ministers] should not have gone ahead without waiting for the Parliament's opinion."

Green deputies have agreed to support this bid, yet the position of the two biggest groups, the Socialists and European People's Party (EPP-ED), is not yet clear as they have not had an opportunity to discuss it.

However, a Socialist source said it is expected that any legal challenge to the PNR accord would command the support of a majority in the Parliament.

"I would suppose that all avenues for recourse to the court will be explored," the source explained. "The Parliament is very angry with the Council and people here are adamant that a challenge goes ahead."

A senior EPP-ED aide said the majority in his group felt the PNR accord should go ahead as the absence of a deal could cause major disruptions for airline passengers.

Yet the source also concurred that there is enough consensus within the outgoing Parliament that a court case should be initiated.

"The fact the Council of Ministers has gone ahead despite the Parliament's position has been like adding fuel to the fire," he explained.

Nevertheless, the US side is insisting that the PNR deal is necessary to deter terrorist atrocities similar to the 11 September 2001 attacks.

"From our standpoint the agreement that has been signed is a done deal," said a US official.

Two meetings have been convened at the European Parliament on 16 June 2004 to decide how the Parliament should handle the Passenger Name Record (PNR) accord agreed with the United States, which has been widely criticised by civil liberties groups.