Cox goes to court to annul EU-US agreement

ON the eve of the EU-US summit in Dromoland Castle, EU President Pat Cox has asked the courts to annul the agreement that gives US authorities data on all airline passengers from the EU.

This will place a further dampener on the meeting that promises to produce very little of substance. The Americans have been playing down its importance and emphasising instead President George W Bush’s visit to the NATO summit in Istanbul.

The European Parliament twice voted against the passenger data agreement but this was ignored by the ministers of the 25 member states and signed in Washington at the end of May.