Euro Parliament balks at U.S. passenger data pact

IDG News Service - In a bid to protect Europeans' rights to privacy, the European Parliament today voted 276 to 260 to refer a draft agreement between the European Commission -- the European Union's executive branch -- and the U.S. on air passenger data to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.
The European Court of Justice has the power to declare that the yet-to-be ratified agreement contravenes EU law.
The agreement, struck last December after lengthy negotiations, would allow U.S. customs officials to collect 34 different pieces of information about air passengers before they board a plane to the U.S. It would also permit U.S. customs to hold on to the information for three and a half years and share it with other government agencies to help them combat terrorism or other serious crimes.
"We regret the European Parliament's decision to refer the agreement to the European Court of Justice," said a U.S. government official in Europe, speaking on condition of anonymity. "From our perspective, the agreement showed the U.S. and the European Union can work together. We stand by the agreement of December."
The draft agreement has yet to be approved by the commission, and according to the commissioner in charge of international relations, Chris Patten, there remain some differences in interpretation of the agreement by both sides.
Patten told the European Parliament that the commission is concerned about U.S. customs officials passing data on to other U.S. government agencies, such as the CIA or FBI.
"We still need some assurances about this," said Diego de Ojeda, Patten's spokesman, adding that the dialogue with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is ongoing. "If we are satisfied they have met our concerns, we could take a formal decision to approve the agreement. If the U.S. doesn't do so, we may have to take a fresh look at the issue."
He said the parliament's decision to go to court is unfortunate. "It is a pity. We hoped the parliament would understand our arguments in favor of signing this agreement."
The European Parliament objected to the agreement throughout the negotiating period. Members of parliament argued all along that to agree to the U.S. demands would compromise the EU's stricter data protection rules.
Airlines are caught in the middle. They face fines and the loss of their landing slots in the U.S. if they fail to provide the data about their passengers to U.S. customs. Yet if they do hand over the information, they may break EU-wide data protection laws.
"We have always said that thisagreement represents a bad deal for privacy," said Graham Watson, a Liberal Democrat member of the European Parliament. "A big question mark will be left hanging over this agreement until the court rules, so I hope they will be able to do so speedily."
The commission is expected to decide in the coming weeks whether to sign the agreement with the U.S.
The European Court of Justice typically moves slowly, and any ruling on the legality of the agreement is likely to come after the commission decides to ratify it. If the commission ratifies it, and then the court declares it illegal, then the agreement will have to be modified, or the commission will have to appeal the ruling.