By Gunter Endres in London
The Court of Justice earlier found that the agreement had no legal basis, leaving the European Commission to find an alternative legal basis to save the agreement, and avoid potential chaos. The controversial agreement signed in Washington in May 2004 to satisfy US anti-terrorist measures, allows US officials access to 34 different pieces of passenger information and is required for all passengers on flights from Europe to the USA. Whether or not this same information is demanded of US travellers flying to Europe is not at all clear.
The Passenger Name Record data, which demands such information as credit card details, telephone numbers, and many more personal details, was deemed by the European Parliament to breach privacy rights, but the court ruled only against the legal framework of the accord. The court has given the EU Council until 30 September to find an alternative.
The EC has vowed to take swift action to safeguard this anti-terrorist measure, saying that there are no grounds to change the content of the agreement. A spokesman for EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini told a news briefing after the court decision: “We need to take swift, robust and legally sound action to make sure we don’t have any difficulty or distortion of transatlantic flights.” Two weeks after the court decision, the EC adopted two initiatives to put a legally sound framework in place. It recommended that the Council terminate the agreement with the USA before the end of June, while at the same time seeking authorisation to open negotiations for a new agreement, saying that Article 38 of Title VI, Treaty on European Union, is “the correct legal environment ... for matters dealing with public security and criminal law matters”.
Until a new agreement is forged, the status quo remains, but, says Mike Pullen, head of EU/competition law at law firm DLA Piper: “It is not satisfactory to put airlines in a position of legal uncertainty not of their making, and leaves them vulnerable to fines.” Much will depend on the US reaction to the EU move, but with most of continental Europe virtually shutting down for holidays in July and August, the time to resolve this issue is very short. ■
Source: Airline Business
