MEPs on guard as US seeks more passenger data

Franco Frattini, the European commissioner for justice, freedom and security is confident that a deal to transfer airline passenger data to the US will be in place by the end of the month. But he indicated that the US was putting the EU under pressure to make last-minute changes which could delay the agreement.

He said that the threat - if there was no agreement - of travel chaos for the thousands of passengers travelling from Europe to America was itself a powerful motivation to find a solution.

"I am confident because there is a business-linked problem. What will happen is [that] all companies will be under pressure," Frattini said.

The Commission is urgently trying to prepare a replacement agreement on the transfer of passenger data to the US after the European Court of Justice in May struck down the existing agreement. The court ruled that it was founded on the wrong legal basis and set 30 September as the date when it would expire.

The Commission is adamant that no content should be changed in the replacement agreement as this might delay it beyond the deadline. A new agreement is to be negotiated next year when changes can be discussed, the Commission argues.

But Frattini told MEPs this week that the US was seeking a "caveat" in the interim agreement. He said that he could not reveal what changes were being sought, but US officials have recently said publicly that they want more data on passengers to be transferred to them, at an earlier stage, to be shared with a greater number of intelligence and customs agencies than is currently permitted.

The EU and US negotiators have had one formal meeting and are to hold a video conference on Monday (18 September).

In the event that no agreement is reached by 1 October, EU member states might sign bilateral agreements with the US. Failing this, airlines could do deals with the US which would likely result in chaos at airports because they would have to seek the consent of individual passengers to supply and transfer their data. "Any [granting of permission for a] transfer of data by airlines would have to be supplied by each individual… they would have to read and fill out a questionnaire at the airport. It would be a very difficult situation," said Wim Nauwelaerts, a lawyer at Hogan & Hartson in Brussels.

The US has previously said fines or the denial of landing rights would result if the data was not transferred.

MEPs have criticised the US stance and the way the EU is responding to it. "If they are seeking to blackmail us, what equivalent blackmail do we have?" asked Stavros Lambrinidis, a Greek Socialist MEP.

Dutch Liberal MEP Sophia in ’t Veld said: "The signal we’re getting from the Americans is that it’s election time and President [George W.] Bush is telling people that there are still bad guys out there…I’m very worried that the Commission is going to give in as they did before."

Franco Frattini, the European commissioner for justice, freedom and security is confident that a deal to transfer airline passenger data to the US will be in place by the end of the month. But he indicated that the US was putting the EU under pressure to make last-minute changes which could delay the agreement.

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