EU agrees to act on passenger info accord with US

Washington has said it is confident the EU can overcome the court's objections. Picture / Reuters.

BRUSSELS - The European Union has agreed to safeguard an anti-terrorism measure requiring EU states to supply advance details of passengers heading to US airports.

A 2004 agreement to supply the names, addresses, payment details and telephone numbers of passengers was struck down by the EU's highest court, the European Court of Justice, last month on a legal technicality.

EU ambassadors meeting in Brussels on Thursday local time agreed that the EU Presidency accompanied by the executive Commission would seek to strike a new agreement using the same language in the 2004 deal, but enshrining it within a different legal framework, an EU diplomat said.

"It should be finished by October 1," he said, referring to the date when the existing accord expires.

EU Parliament deputies had raised concerns that the transfer of passenger data breached privacy rights, but the European Court of Justice ruled on May 30 only against the legal framework of the two-year-old accord.

The Commission hopes it can overcome the objection raised in the court under laws pertaining to the provision of services in the European Union by re-basing the agreement on articles of law pertaining to security and the fight against organised crime.

Such a move will mean the European Parliament no longer has any formal say over the measure.

It will have to be ratified by member states but can take effect provisionally even before the ratification process is complete, a spokesman said for EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said earlier this month.

Washington has said it is confident the EU can overcome the court's objections and there will be no impact on air traffic.

- REUTERS