"Europe, US seek new air data deal"

Friday, September 8, 2009

Europe and U.S. seek new air data deal


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Top European and U.S. officials kicked off talks on
Friday to try to replace an annulled deal on sharing air passenger data to
avoid possible disruptions to air travel when the arrangement expires on
September 30.

Under post-9/11 anti-terrorism arrangements, European airlines supply U.S.
authorities with information on passengers entering the United States
including name, address, payment details and telephone numbers.

But an EU court struck down the existing deal on a legal technicality in May
and gave the European Union and the United States until September 30 to
replace it. 

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has since said the United
States wants more access to passenger data, but the EU's justice chief
stressed time was short and urged Washington to accept merely a change in
how the deal is framed legally.

"The most important need is to guarantee the continuity of application of
the ... agreement, and legal certainty," EU Justice and Security
Commissioner Franco Frattini told Reuters ahead of the talks.

"I ask the U.S. to agree on the same substance."

Under existing rules, airlines face fines of $6,000 per passenger if they do
not share information.

Frattini warned that in the absence of a deal, airlines would continue to
send data requested by the United States, but with very different treatment
of personal data -- potentially sparking complaints by travelers about data
privacy. 

"If the deadline expires without an agreement in force as of October 1, the
consequence would be the multiplication of individual complaints," Frattini
said.

Frattini told EU lawmakers on Thursday it would reduce the level of data
protection.

Frattini urged the United States to keep any demand for more data access for
talks on a new deal which had already been planned for 2007 before the EU
court ruling.

U.S. officials have previously said they shared the EU's objective to
replace the deal by September 30 but declined this week to comment on the
EU's position, or to specify if Chertoff's request for more data applied to
Friday's talks or to next year's scheduled negotiation. 

European Parliament lawmakers, who took the deal to court in the first
place, have agreed to its swift replacement so as not to create disruption
but said they wanted better data protection clauses when the deal is
renegotiated next year.

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