EU/US discord could ground passengers
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(InfoWorld) - A failure by the U.S. and European Union to reach a new agreement next month on the provision passenger data for transatlantic flights could ground up to 105,000 people each week, the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) director general said Thursday. The two sides need to reach a new accord by the end of September, after the European Court of Justice ruled in May that the current agreement is unacceptable. That agreement calls for airlines to provide U.S. authorities with the names, addresses, ticket payment details, and telephone numbers of passengers on U.S.-bound flights. The EU'sÂ highest court ruledÂ that there was no "appropriate legal basis" for the deal, and said it would cease to be valid from October. If a new agreement isn't reached before then, airlines will be forced to decide whether to continue providing the information in violation of European privacy law, withhold the information in violation of U.S. law, orÂ ground flights to avoid breaking any law, said Giovanni Bisignani, director general and CEO of IATA, at a news conference in Tokyo. "I hope that there will be an agreement because I know that the cooperation between the Homeland Security and European Union is strong and effective," he said. "I think there is time to find a decision," Bisignani said. "It's not up to me to say which is the best decision. It's up to me to say I look forward to increased cooperation and increased discussion between the two parties because we cannot be in a situation on Sept. 30 when we have to make the decision which law to break." Bisignani's comments came two days after U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff wrote in The Washington Post that the U.S. needs continued access to the personal information on passengers, and also wants the rules relaxed on how the information can be used. The US Customs and Border Protection receives the information regularly, he wrote, but cannot share it freely with investigators in other Department of Homeland Security divisions, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or with the Federal Bureau of Investigations -- "never mind with our allies in London." "This information might yet identify associates of those arrested in the plot in Britain, but the rules blind us in routinely searching for that connection," Chertoff wrote. The U.S. says the data allows them to identify certain passengers for additional screening when they arrive in the U.S. while reducing the amount of time spent on screening low-risk passengers.
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A green light to Turkey to begin EU membership talks receives a cool reception from Europe's press on Thursday. While in Russia, fare-dodgers are in for a surprise.
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The United States and the European Union failed to meet a Saturday deadline to conclude a permanent new agreement on the sharing of airline passenger data, an issue that has raised serious privacy concerns in Europe. But both sides said talks will continue and flights will not be affected.
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The U.S. and European Union have reached a tentative agreement that would give airlines greater freedom to choose trans-Atlantic routes and potentially lead to lower fares, the government announced Friday.
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Business as usual despite legal limbo European Union and US negotiators have failed to reach a deal on sharing passenger data by Saturday's (30 September deadline), creating a legal vacuum over the Atlantic.â¦
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The European Union hopes to reach an agreement with the United States next Friday on a new pact on sharing airline passenger data, the European Commission said on Sunday.
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Europe is in a serious tug of war situation. On one side America wants it in its age-old traditional mode of preserving Western Union of Nations through NATO.
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The European Union hopes to reach an  agreement with the United States next Friday on a new pact on  sharing airline passenger data, the European Commission said on  Sunday.
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Air passengers travelling to European Union countries may face a 100ml limit on how much they can take on board.
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U.S. officials and airlines welcomed  a draft U.S.-European Union agreement on Friday to liberalize  transatlantic aviation that continues to prohibit overseas  control of domestic carriers.
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European and U.S. security officials were locked in talks in Brussels Monday to replace a passenger data sharing agreement that wasÂ outlawed by a European courtÂ in May.
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The United States and the European Union reached an antiterrorism deal yesterday after months of wrangling over privacy rights, giving American law enforcement agencies continued access to passenger data on US-bound flights. US authorities say the data enable them to notify the airline or European customs officials before takeoff if any of the passengers are on an American wanted ...
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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.
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U.S. and European Union officials have tentatively agreed to a new deal that would enable the U.S. to continue collecting personal information about the passengers on incoming flights from EU countries.
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(InfoWorld) - European and U.S. security officials were locked in talks in Brussels Monday to replace a passenger data sharing agreement that wasÂ outlawed by a European courtÂ in May. The screening of airline passengers entering the U.S. became standard security procedure after the terrorist attacks on the U.S. five years ago. An agreement was struck with the European Union in 2003 permitting airlines carrying passengers to the U.S. to pass over 34 pieces of European citizens' private data to U.S. immigration officials withoutÂ breaching strict European data protection laws. With that agreementÂ due to expireÂ at the end of this month, after being thrown out on a legal technicality by the European Court of Justice, security officials are trying to agree on an interim accord to take over from Oct. 1. Senior U.S. security officials have demanded an interim accord more far-reaching than the existing one, while the European Parliament wants to limit its scope. Without a replacement agreement, airlines face a dilemma: if they don't hand over the passenger name records (PNRs), U.S. authorities may impose hefty fines or withdraw their landing rights, while if they do hand over the data, passengers may sue them for breaching their right to privacy under European laws. The Parliament recommended last Thursday that E.U. governments protect European citizens' civil liberties by ensuring that any fresh deal with the U.S. incorporates new privacy safeguards to prevent the profiling of passengers. Current rules exclude the Parliament from negotiations. Last week it demanded that the legal basis for a Trans-Atlantic data sharing agreement be changed to allow the Parliament joint responsibility for negotiating a long-term replacement accord. The European Commission, the E.U.'s executive body leading the negotiations on the European side, supports changing the legal basis for a new long term accord -- once the interim agreement is in place. Justice and security commissioner Franco Frattini last week said the issue "underlines the need for a single legal basis for justice, liberty and security issues." But he stressed that reaching an interim accord is paramount. "The most important need is to guarantee the continuity of application of the ... agreement, and legal certainty," he said. He wants the interim accord to be the same as the one it is replacing. "I ask the U.S. to agree on the same substance," he told journalists on his way into a meeting with U.S. officials last Thursday. However, it could also incorporate "rules and procedures which effectively restrict the use of PNR data by the U.S. authorities," he told the Parliament last week. Any attempt to limit the scope of the current accord will be fiercely resisted by U.S. officials. In an article published in The Washington Post last Tuesday, U.S. Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff asked for the lifting of restrictions on how data can be shared with other agencies. The existing accord forbids U.S. immigration officials from sharing the 34 pieces of data with any other government agency. "European privacy concerns have limited the ability of counterterrorism officials to gain broad access to data of this sort," Chertoff said. Frattini wrote to Chertoff Monday promising continued commitment to cooperating in the fight against terrorism. The E.U., he said, "is better prepared to respond than we were five years ago." However, the alleged terrorist plot to blow up trans-Atlantic flights that came to light in the U.K. in August shows that more cooperation is needed, he said. In addition to striking a new passenger data agreement with the U.S., Frattini told Chertoff that new priorities include monitoring the use of the Internet by terrorists.
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The dispute over subsidies to Airbus and Boeing are expected to be on the agenda as the new commissioner of the European Trade Union, Peter Mandelson, and his counterpart from the United States, Robert Zoeller, started discussions Monday.
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Six airlines have asked US authorities for anti-trust immunity on trans-Atlantic services within the framework of an &quot;open skies&quot; agreement between the European Union and United States.