"EU, U.S. try again to nail down anti-terrorism agreement"

Thursday, October 5, 2006

EU, U.S. try again to nail down anti-terrorism agreement  
The Associated Press
 
 
LUXEMBOURG EU and U.S. negotiators on Thursday tried again to reach an 
agreement to protect the privacy of air passengers with Washington demanding 
more routine access to personal data for its anti-terrorism agencies than under 
a deal that lapsed last week.
 
EU officials said they shared Washington's "legitimate" concerns about 
terrorism, but demanded strict data protection guarantees in return for a more 
routine sharing of personal details of air passengers among US government law 
enforcement officials.
 
Separately, the EU said the U.S. has accepted new EU security rules for 
personal toiletries in carry-on luggage including a limit of 100 milliliters (a 
fifth of a pint) of liquid per container.
 
A 2004 trans-Atlantic air passenger privacy deal — which the EU high court 
voided last May for technical reasons — lapsed after negotiators missed an 
Oct. 1 deadline.
 
Washington has pledged to protect the privacy of air passengers in accordance 
with the lapsed accord until a new deal is in place.
 
Negotiations collapsed last week when EU negotiators — seeking a simple 
replacement accord — could not agree to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary 
Michael Chertoff's request for a more routine sharing of passenger data among 
U.S. law enforcement agencies.
 
The EU justice ministers, meeting in Luxembourg, were to approve a new accord 
Friday if they get satisfactory data protection guarantees from Washington, 
officials said.
 
"I don't want to say I am optimistic" about a deal, EU Justice Commissioner 
Franco Frattini told reporters, adding the talks centered on "the very 
sensitive questions ... of the security needs of the United States and the 
privacy protection needs" of Europeans flying to the United States.
 
EU and American negotiators were negotiating by trans-Atlantic video-link as 
the 25 EU ambassadors planned to have a late night session to assess the 
outcome.
 
Reaching a new deal is an EU priority to ensure airlines can continue to 
legally submit 34 pieces of data about passengers flying from Europe to U.S. 
destinations. Such data — including passengers' names, addresses and credit 
card details — must be transferred to U.S. authorities within 15 minutes of a 
flight's departure for the United States.
 
Washington has warned that airlines failing to share passenger data face fines 
of up to US$6,000 (€4,700) per passenger and the loss of landing rights
 
Privacy restrictions tend to be stricter in Europe than in the United States. 
Chertoff has complained this limits "the ability of (American) counterterrorism 
officials to gain broad access to data of this sort."
 
An EU diplomat, who asked not to be named, said Washington wants to be able to 
share data with more law enforcement agencies and the right to access airline 
reservation systems to search for passenger data. The Europeans want airlines 
to make the data available. Also under negotiation is the way in which the 
United States will store passenger data.
 
Under the lapsed agreement, data on passengers flying to the United States is 
relayed to US Customs and Border Protection officials who cannot routinely 
share it with other Department of Homeland Security agencies, nor the Federal 
Bureau of Investigation.
 
The deal that is being re-negotiated is an interim agreement. The EU and the 
U.S. hope to conclude a permanent one next year.
 
Speaking in Brussels Thursday, EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot said 
U.S. Transport Security Administration had accepted new EU security rules on 
carry-on luggage.
 
The EU nations will limit the amount of liquid personal toiletries that 
passengers can carry through security for commercial flights and the size of 
cabin baggage.
 
The new rules take effect in November and will let passengers carry on board 
personal toiletries that contain no more than 100 milliliters (a fifth of a 
pint) of liquid per container. All such containers must be in see-through, 
re-sealable plastic bags.
 
The tighter security measures come after British police announced Aug. 10 that 
they had thwarted a plot to bring down U.S.-bound flights with liquid-based 
explosives.

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