Passenger data deal due Friday

THE European Union hopes to reach an agreement with the United States next Friday on a new pact on sharing of airline passenger data, the European Commission said yesterday.

US and European negotiators failed on Saturday to reach a deal on sharing passenger data before an existing pact expired.

The Department of Transport said the handing over of required personal passenger data of people travelling to the US from Ireland will continue until a new deal is reached.

A commission statement said a draft agreement sent to the European side by US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Saturday may be discussed by EU justice and home affairs ministers in Luxembourg next Friday “in the hope of having an agreement the same day”.

Under post-September 11 anti-terrorism arrangements, European airlines supply US authorities with information on passengers entering the US, including their name, address, payment details and telephone numbers.

An EU court struck down the existing deal on a legal technicality in May but gave the EU and the US until September 30 to replace it.

The Department of Transport spokeswoman said that once the text is agreed between the EU and US, Transport Minister Martin Cullen will take a motion to the Oireachtas seeking approval. Brussels would then manage the adoption of the new agreement, she said.

In the meantime, the commission urged the US to continue to apply safeguards for passenger data laid down in the lapsed 2004 agreement.