Green light for European air travel 'passenger register'
Friday, April 15, 2016 @ 6:38 PM
AN AIR passenger register will be set up for everyone who catches a flight within the European Union in a bid to fight terrorism, after the majority of MEPs voted in favour.
The French government pushed particularly hard for the register to come into force, arguing that attacks committed in France last year were planned or prepared outside the country and that the lack of border control as a result of the Schengen zone meant they were able to move around freely – plus, France considers, secret services did not communicate efficiently enough, enabling the Jihad terrorists to cover their tracks.
Data about air travellers will be taken for the PNR register at the time of booking and passed onto national authorities, and will be processed by a Passenger Information Unit (PIU) which the EU now has to set up.
This information will be held for a maximum of five years, but after six months any data which allows passengers to be identified – such as name and address – will be deleted.
Each PIU will have a data protection officer responsible for ensuring laws safeguarding sensitive information are adhered to.
As well as national authorities, the data will be passed onto countries outside the EU where necessary, and the Europol and Interpol.
In principle, the PNR will apply to flights entering the EU from outside it, but may be extended to those within the Union or even within the same country if member States wish.
The Council of Europe and 27 member States – Denmark is exempt – will need to agree the move before it goes ahead, and if it does, each country will have just two years to put the PNR in place.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com