European Union and US officials were said to have reached agreement yesterday about the transfer to the United States of private data about transatlantic air passengers for use in the fight against terrorism. The deal was reached in talks between Franco Frattini, the EU Justice and Security Commissioner, Wolfgang Schaeuble, the German Interior Minister, and Michael Chertoff, the US Homeland Security Secretary, a spokesman for Mr Frattini said. Details of the accord must now be approved by the EUÂ’s 27 member states, who will study it on Friday.
Under an interim agreement reached in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US, European airlines must pass on up to 34 items of passenger data, including address and credit card details, to be allowed to land at US airports. That arrangement is due to expire at the end of July, potentially leaving airlines in a legal limbo and exposed to privacy complaints.
No details of the deal were disclosed but another EU diplomat has said previously that, under the new arrangement, data would be kept for 15 years. Under the interim accord, information can be held for between 3Å“ and 11Å“ years.