European Council must respect rule of law in passenger data case

12.56.32pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 5th May 2004

European Liberal Democrat spokeswoman on justice affairs Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP (Liberal Democrats, UK) has welcomed the commitment of European Parliament President Pat Cox to formally ask that the Council and Commission hold off from signing the 'PNR' agreement with the US on transfer of air passenger data.

They should wait until the European Court of Justice has given its judgement on compatibility with EU privacy law consequent on the EP decision to refer that matter. The European Parliament yesterday voted to refuse the deadline imposed by the Council for delivery of its opinion, preferring to wait for the Court.

Baroness Ludford, who made the request today at the beginning of business on behalf of the ELDR group, commented:

"We need to be aware of the precedent set by the Council in taking legislative decisions in two cases without the opinion of the Parliament, on grounds that they had set a deadline which we had not observed. We should warn them not to undermine the spirit of respect between the EU institutions in the present PNR case."

"If EU governments are not moved by an appeal to stop bullying MEPs into giving up the fight for individual rights to data protection, they should at least respect the rule of law and await the Court ruling, which is expected before the summer."

In a letter to the Chairman of the legal affairs committee, rapporteur Johanna Boogerd-Quaak MEP (D66/Netherlands) further argued that in order to protect the interest of Parliament, it may be necessary to take legal action against the Council and Commission.

"Should the Council continue to disregard the consistent opinion of Parliament and decide to conclude the Agreement without waiting for the opinion of the European Court of Justice it would be acting against the principle of loyal cooperation between the institutions. In this case, I believe it would be essential that Parliament take legal action in order to protect parliamentary prerogatives."

Note

Under the agreement access to personal airline passenger data does not stop at names, addresses and contact telephone numbers. It will include data on travelling companions and hosts, the travel agency with which reservations were made, passengers' credit card details as well as dietary preferences.

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