EU-USA: PNR AGREEMENT: The Agreement" is just that, it is not a Treaty as far as the USA is concerned - US Senate urges government to resist EU oversight structures and interference with information sharing

EU-USA: PNR AGREEMENT: The “Agreement” is just that, it is not a Treaty as far as the USA is concerned – US Senate urges government to resist EU oversight structures and interference with information sharing: The EU-US agreements on exchange of PNR data are, legally, “Executive” agreements which have been negotiated and concluded since 2004 with the US administration without any formal involvement of the US Senate – as distinct from what happened for the EU-US agreements on extradition and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. The US Senate has adopted a strong resolution on this issue which should prevent the US administration from concluding the “new” EU-US PNR agreement by taking in account a number of concerns expressed by the European Parliament. The “sponsors” of the Senate Resolution are the Chairman and the Ranking member of a Senate Committee which has responsibility for the Homeland Security Department: Senate Resolution of EU-USA PNR (pdf) The Resolution includes the following conclusions: “(2) urges the Department of Homeland Security to reject any efforts by the European Union to modify existing PNR data sharing mechanisms in a way that would degrade the usefulness of the PNR data for identifying terrorists and other dangerous criminals; (3) urges the Department of Homeland Security to not enter into any agreement that would impose European oversight structures on the United States; and (4) opposes any effort by the European Union to interfere with counterterrorism cooperation and information sharing between the Department of Homeland Security and non-European countries.“