Exchange of passenger information with Canada at peril

An opinion of the Advocate-General of the Court of Justice of the European Union threatens to jeopardise the PNR agreement between the EU and Canada concerning the exchange of passenger information. MEP Helga Stevens sounds the alarm and hopes the Court will not follow the plea of the Advocate-General for a fundamental change of that deal: “In these perilous times, the exchange of passenger information is a must in order to track down criminals. After all, this deal is important not only in the fight against terrorism, but also in the fight against child exploitation and human trafficking. Furthermore, the deal contains adequate safeguards for data protection.”

MEP Sander Loones also calls for a more realistic attitude from the Court: “The PNR system maps out criminals’ behavioural patterns and provides the national security services with a wealth of information. Our security services can only operate effectively if they possess sufficient information. This opinion threatens to hinder their work and puts the security of our citizens at risk.” An opinion such as this one is not a final judgement, but is followed by the Court in 80% of cases.

“A negative judgement would also have far-reaching consequences for other similar agreements with the US and Australia,” Sander Loones warns. “It even puts the PNR system within the EU at risk.”