Airlines will in future have to share certain passenger data with national authorities in the EU. Negotiators from the European Parliament and the EU states agreed on the new requirements in Brussels on Friday. The European Parliament and the EU states still have to confirm the agreement, which is usually a formality.
Advertisement
According to the announcement, the regulation affects the so-called extended passenger data (API). These contain the passenger's name, date of birth, nationality, passport details and basic flight information. They must be submitted to the authorities at the destination before and after departure.
The API should be combined with data called PNR. This is a larger set of passenger personal data collected and stored by airlines. This includes information such as the passenger's name, travel dates, itineraries, seat numbers, baggage details, contact details and payment methods. This should make it possible to detect particularly dangerous passengers in the fight against terrorism and serious crime. The data should generally be stored for 48 hours.
Automated collection
Airlines must collect the data contained in travel documents automatically, for example by scanning machine-readable passports. If this is not possible, airlines can collect the data manually during online check-in or check-in at the airport. There should be a transition period of two years. The data should be collected centrally and an EU agency should develop the necessary technology. The data collected there would be transmitted to the responsible border surveillance and law enforcement authorities.
The technology will later be used to collect PNR data. In June 2022, the European Court of Justice ruled on the directive for the transmission of this data adopted in 2016 in such a way that many EU member states will probably have to redraft their national laws to implement it.
In principle, the rules decided on Friday only affect flights that take off outside the EU, as the Council of EU States announced. However, Member States could decide to also cover flights within the EU. Such a decision depends on the specific needs of law enforcement authorities, such as a terrorist threat. If this is missing, it can be supported by a risk assessment.
(anw)