EU and US extend talks on air passenger data

LUXEMBOURG, Oct 6 (Reuters) European and U.S. negotiators extended marathon talks on Friday aimed at agreeing new rules to supply personal records on passengers flying to the United States as part of counter-terrorism moves, an EU official said.

''Negotiations with the U.S. are continuing,'' an EU Presidency spokesman said of a transatlantic videoconference session originally due to have ended late on Thursday after six hours.

Under arrangements put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, European airlines pass on data on passengers, including addresses and credit card details, to be allowed to land at U.S. airports.

The European Court of Justice struck down that pact on a legal technicality in May and failure to find a replacement soon could expose airlines to breach of privacy suits.

EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini expressed hopes on Thursday that EU justice ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Friday would be able to approve any preliminary deal reached in the negotiations.

One senior EU diplomat said as negotiations continued that prospects for an accord looked ''rather positive'', while another EU official said the United States had not put any new demands on the table. In Washington, U.S. homeland security officials had no comment on the talks.

Frattini told reporters in Luxembourg agreement hinged on Washington guaranteeing adequate privacy safeguards.

''(The question) is how to balance...the security needs of the United States and privacy protection needs,'' he said.

European and U.S. negotiators failed to reach a deal to replace current arrangements before they expired last Saturday.

The 25-nation EU had wanted simply to roll over the old agreement on a different legal basis, but Washington demanded wider access to the data for counter-terrorism purposes.

Air traffic has not been affected so far but the industry is concerned about the impact of a prolonged legal void.

Senior EU diplomats said Brussels would yield to the U.S.

request to make it easier for more agencies to have access to the data sent to U.S. border and customs services.

It also wants to ensure the data protection safeguards included in the cancelled accord are reintroduced and extended to any new agencies covered in any future accord.

''The undertakings are the key,'' said one EU official of stipulations such as limits on how long data can be kept, who can access it and bans on inclusion of racial and health data.

EU negotiators are wary about appearing to yield too much to U.S. demands, given widespread European public misgivings over President George W. Bush's war on terrorism, from revelations about secret CIA jails to abuses in Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.

Transatlantic ties will not have been helped by the European Commission's proposal on Wednesday that EU states force U.S.

diplomats to apply for visas in retaliation for Washington's refusal to waive visa requirements for most new EU countries.

REUTERS CS KP1133