This section of the Observatory brings together news, analysis and documentation on the EU's two key travel surveillance measures: the 2016 Passenger Name Record Directive and the 2004 Advance Passenger Information Directive.
The European Commission initially put forward a proposal for an EU Passenger Name Record system in 2007, but it was withdrawn following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. A new proposal (in the form of a Directive, rather than a Council Framework Decision) was issued in 2011. This went back and forth between the Council and Parliament until its final, controversial adoption in April 2016, when the Parliament caved in to pressure from the Council and Commission.
The EU PNR Directive can be found here and national implementing legislation here.
The API Directive can be found here and national implementing legislation here.
At the Justice and Home Affairs Council the French Interior Minister, Michele Alliot-Marie said on 24 July 2008 that "We reached an agreement on the principle of the European PNR". But a note from the Austrian delegation dated 10 July said: "The approach of the Presidency to abandon the work on the proposal of the Commission and to start a thematic discussion is welcomed."
All passengers to be "profiled" and the data kept for 13 years - EU PNR plan mirrors controversial EU-US PNR scheme - European Parliament only to be "consulted" - Data protection fiasco -"not convinced of the necessity of such a proposal and is therefore opposed to the proposal" (Article 29 Data Protection Working Party)
Government has not even sent the latest draft Directive to parliament, how many other national parliaments has this happened to?
The Select Committee on the European Union in the House of Lords has issued a highly critical report on an EU proposal for airline and shipping companies to be required to collect and pass over details on all passengers entering a member state - the EU's equivalent to the USA PNR scheme. The Committee's report says that the proposal, initiated by the Spanish government in March 2003 is "seriously flawed". It will, say the Committee, lead to "serious delays and disruption", largely ineffective and place a "disproportionate" burden on carriers.
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