Post by corsair67 on Jun 1, 2006 9:59:49 GMT 12
From The Times.
How long do you think it'll take until this Court order falls over?
?
Court blocks US flight data deal
Anthony Browne, Brussels
June 01, 2006.
PASSENGERS flying across the Atlantic face chaos after Europe's supreme court threw out an agreement for airlines to hand over passenger details to US counter-terrorism authorities before flights take off.
Airlines gave warning that unless an immediate solution were found they would be plunged into a legal limbo - banned by Europe's data protection laws from handing the details to the US and banned from landing in the US unless they had handed over the data.
The European Court of Justice judgment caused outrage among anti-terrorism policy-makers on both sides of the Atlantic, prompting claims that it is fuelled by anti-Americanism and shows Europe is soft on terrorism.
But it was hailed as a triumph by EU parliamentarians, who started the legal action, claiming that US agencies could not be trusted with passenger data.
European airlines have been giving the US Department of Homeland Security 34 pieces of information about each passenger, including their name, address, credit card details, travelling companions and phone numbers. They did so under a deal agreed between all 25 EU governments and Washington.
A panel of judges in Luxembourg ruled that the deal had no legal basis under European law. The court said the annulment would not take place until September 30.
European governments and the European Commission said they could not immediately see any way through the impasse, though Washington indicated it would be co-operative.
British Tory MEP and terrorism spokesman Geoffrey Van Orden said: "It's sending another negative message to the US, which will mistakenly get the impression that Europe is not serious about terrorism."
The Republican chairman of the homeland security committee in the US House of Representatives, Pete King, told the BBC: "We are involved in a life and death struggle against international terrorism. It's in all our interests. Sometimes I think European parliamentarians don't realise the reality of governing."
The Times
How long do you think it'll take until this Court order falls over?
?Court blocks US flight data deal
Anthony Browne, Brussels
June 01, 2006.
PASSENGERS flying across the Atlantic face chaos after Europe's supreme court threw out an agreement for airlines to hand over passenger details to US counter-terrorism authorities before flights take off.
Airlines gave warning that unless an immediate solution were found they would be plunged into a legal limbo - banned by Europe's data protection laws from handing the details to the US and banned from landing in the US unless they had handed over the data.
The European Court of Justice judgment caused outrage among anti-terrorism policy-makers on both sides of the Atlantic, prompting claims that it is fuelled by anti-Americanism and shows Europe is soft on terrorism.
But it was hailed as a triumph by EU parliamentarians, who started the legal action, claiming that US agencies could not be trusted with passenger data.
European airlines have been giving the US Department of Homeland Security 34 pieces of information about each passenger, including their name, address, credit card details, travelling companions and phone numbers. They did so under a deal agreed between all 25 EU governments and Washington.
A panel of judges in Luxembourg ruled that the deal had no legal basis under European law. The court said the annulment would not take place until September 30.
European governments and the European Commission said they could not immediately see any way through the impasse, though Washington indicated it would be co-operative.
British Tory MEP and terrorism spokesman Geoffrey Van Orden said: "It's sending another negative message to the US, which will mistakenly get the impression that Europe is not serious about terrorism."
The Republican chairman of the homeland security committee in the US House of Representatives, Pete King, told the BBC: "We are involved in a life and death struggle against international terrorism. It's in all our interests. Sometimes I think European parliamentarians don't realise the reality of governing."
The Times
