Brussels, 17/12/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the European Commissioner Frits Bolkestein and the American Secretary for Homeland Security, Tom Ridge, reached agreement on the recording of information on transatlantic flight passengers. After a year of intensive negotiations, the Commission is confident that the US has given sufficient guarantees to ensure that the collection of data, to be used in the fight against terrorism, fulfils requirements of European legislation on the protection of privacy.
In February 2004, the Commission will present a draft agreement, so that Parliament and the Council may pronounce themselves in March or April, announced Commissioner Bolkestein before the civil liberties and legal committees of the European Parliament, in Strasbourg on Tuesday. In the meantime, data transfer will continue as per current modalities. "The American authorities' position has changed significantly, bringing it within the acceptable limits", said Mr Bolkestein. "The Commission's determination has allowed the Homeland Security's mission to improve their fight against crime and terrorism, whilst guaranteeing that the privacy of passengers will be protected", said Mr Ridge in a press release.
In another press release, the Commission stressed the fact that negotiations have helped to reduce the duration of data storage to three and a half years, instead of the 50 Washington initially wanted. This corresponds to the duration laid down in the agreement concluded between the EU and the US, "which has given us the experience to know what should and should not continue", commented Mr Bolkestein. The implementation of commitments will be jointly assessed each year. The list of data to be transmitted will be limited to 34 fields instead of 39, which is still many more than the 19 fields judged acceptable by representatives of national privacy protection authorities (article 29 committee). For instance, it covers passengers' telephone and credit card numbers. The Commission managed to have the following removed: number of baggages, upgrades or "free tickets". Sensitive data revealing racial origin, political opinions, religious belief and passengers' state of health are to be removed automatically without being used. Use of data will be limited to the fight against terrorism and other "serious crimes, including trans-national organised crime". In theory, they could be used by the American Justice Minister to research the perpetrators of "internal crimes". The data will be collected by the US Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and can only be given to other bodies on a case-by-case basis. In its press release, the Commission makes the proud boast that it "successfully resisted" American pressure for the agreement also to cover the future "Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-screening" system (CAPPS II). "The CAPPS II question will not be discussed until the second round of negotiations", once it has been approved by Congress, it announced. CAPPS II is designed to align the handling of passenger data coming from public and commercial sources. It has led to concern in America on privacy. The Commission also welcomes the fact that it has obtained assurances that the person in charge of privacy within the Homeland Security office will treat requests by passengers to modify data relative to them as a matter of urgency. These requests may be defended by the privacy protection bodies of the Member States.
Negotiations are underway with Member States and airlines to make sure that passengers will be duly informed of data collection relative to them. An information model prepared by the Commission and the American CBP together with national authorities has been sent out to the airlines. In principle, this information requires the consent of passengers before it can be transferred. However, as Mr Bolkestein's spokesperson, Jonathan Todd, said on Wednesday, "if a passenger does not want the information to be sent, either the company can refuse to sell the ticket, or he or she risks hours of interrogations by the American authorities on arrival". "At the moment, the only alternative for passengers is not to go to the US. There are many other interesting countries to visit", he joked.
The EU will continue its global action on three fronts: taking data for the Member States' internal security requirements, setting up a centralised data collection system, and preparing an international agreement to settle the issue at world level.

Antonio Vitorino proposes framework decision on co-ordinating data collection

The Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs, Antonio Vitorino, confirmed to the parliamentary committees that he will present a proposed framework decision in mid-2004, on co-ordinating the collection of data for internal security requirements and the fight against terrorism in the Member States. This proposal is based on an initiative launched by Spain. The Commission said in its press release that the agreement with the US is "no obstacle to an appropriate EU policy in the area.
The list of information elements also seems to have been sufficiently extended to be able to cover the EU's needs in terms of deterrent measures".
The implementation of a centralised data-collection system will serve both the European objectives and those under the agreement with the US. Airlines are being contacted, pointed out Commissioner for Transport, Loyola de Palacio, speaking before the committees. This system will allows data transferred to the US to be selected and filtered (under a "push" system) instead of giving free access to all files as per the current "pull" system. Technical solutions are being looked into, and could be set up in the middle of next year, according to the Commission. It states that an binding obligation "would be desirable" to ensure that all airlines are "faced with the same requirements", because setting up filters will incur "considerable costs".
Data transfer is "a truly international problem, not just a bilateral one", notes the press release. The EU has started negotiations with Canada and Australia on data transfer. The Commission services have prepared a working document, to be presented "shortly" to the board of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). It centres around: data which can be used, collection practices, technical implications, and the storage and handling of data.
The agreement with the US received a mixed reception from the parliamentary committees. Dutch Green Kathalijne Buitenweg opposed the arrangement, "in violation of the directive on data protection", protesting also against the "number of Member States wanting to violate the directive on privacy as the US does". She thinks that storing the data for three and a half years is out of all proportion. Italian Radical Marco Cappato also thought that the collection of these data was illegal. "For the time being, we are breaking the law", agreed Dutch Liberal Johanna Boogerd-Quaak (ELDR), who was astonished at the procedure used, and would have preferred an international Treaty. CDU MEP Georg Jarzembowski, on the other hand, was pleased that the Commission is "creating legal security, which is indispensable". The chairman of the committee on foreign affairs, Elmar Brok (CDU), welcomed "the major progress made", and British Conservative Jacqueline Foster came out very strongly in support of the agreement.