EU court rules airline data deal with US illegal

By Staff
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BRUSSELS, May 30 (Reuters) The European Union acted illegally when it agreed to transfer airline passenger data to the United States as part of US efforts to fight terrorism, the bloc's highest court today said.

The United States and European airlines said the ruling would have no immediate impact on transatlantic air travel and left time to find an agreed solution to the data transfer issue.

Under a May 2004 EU-US agreement, European airlines have been obliged to give US authorities 34 items of information on passengers flying to the United States, including name, address, all forms of payment and contact telephone numbers.

The United States insisted the transfer of personal details was essential to fight terrorism following the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington by suicide plane hijackers.

But the European Parliament challenged the deal, contending it had no legal basis and infringed fundamental rights.

The European Court of Justice ruled that the EU Council of Ministers' decision to sign the agreement lacked an adequate legal basis.

''Consequently, the court annulled the council decision approving the conclusion of the agreement and did not consider it necessary to consider the other pleas relied on by parliament,'' a court statement said.

It gave the executive European Commission and member states four months to find a solution by maintaining the legality of the decision to sign the agreement until September 30 ''for reasons of legal certainty''.

The court did not rule out on the lawmakers' claims that the agreement infringed on passengers' privacy rights.

NO DISRUPTION In an initial response, the United States pledged to seek a temporary way forward with the EU and said summer transatlantic air traffic should not be disrupted, nor security lowered.

''We have had prior discussions with the Commission and agreed we will be using our best efforts to find an agreed interim approach to data transfers that fully respects the court's ruling,'' a spokesman for the US Mission to the European Union said.

''We remain strongly committed to the protection of personal privacy,'' he added.

European airlines played down the impact of the ruling, saying there should be no short-term effect on travellers.

''What we understand is that it has been ruled out on a technicality and the Commission has been given the opportunity to find another legal basis to satisfy the court,'' said David Henderson, a spokesman for the Association of European Airlines.

Among possible options, the EU executive could seek to reintroduce the agreement on a different legal basis, try to renegotiate the deal, or individual member states could conclude bilateral pacts with the United States instead, experts say.

''We're going to be working to ensure there is no lowering of data protection standards and no disruption to transatlantic air traffic and that a high level of security is maintained,'' a US official said.

Washington would prefer to reconstruct something with the EU rather than take a bilateral approach.

REUTERS SY BD1540

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