EU Member States Looking For Ways That Would Permit Gathering Data on All Intra-EU Flights

According to Statewatch, currently, the Member States of the EU are not permitted to gather data on all intra-EU flights. Instead, data can only be gathered when there is a threat, which means that the scope of information that can be gathered is limited to certain intra-EU flights.

For this reason, the Member States have said that they are looking for ways that would permit them to gather needed data and identify wanted people taking flight within the EU, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

Statewatch explains that the comments of the member states on improving compliance with the ruling of the court came in response to a questionnaire that was circulated in the Council of the EU last year.

Commenting on the restrictions on the Passenger Name Record (PNR) Directive, the Belgian authorities said that the country recognises the importance of collecting data for intra-EU flights, and at the same time called on the Member States to explore other options and solutions.

“Belgium fully recognises the importance of the collection of PNR for intra-EU flights. It calls upon Member States to explore all options or solutions to comply with the Court ruling on PNR without losing crucial travel information,” the statement of the Belgian authorities reads.

The Austrian authorities have also said that a mandatory possibility for the processing of intra-EU flights should also be determined.

According to the authorities of Austria, a solution could be best achieved through the introduction of a legally binding act in the form of a PNR Regulation.

“It has to be stressed however, that all rules of data protection have to be upheld and that any new legal text will not serve as a vehicle of circumventing the ruling of the ECJ,” the Austrian authorities added.

In addition to the above-mentioned, Statewatch notes that other countries also commented on the matter. Greece is one of the countries that does not think that is needed to justify its practices when it comes to gathering information for “unknown terrorists and criminals”.

As for Finland, it has been stressed that the country supports the call of Belgium for the establishment of an expert working group, which would be tasked with the development of a methodology as well as its execution.