The Home Affairs and Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament endorsed the new EU-U.S. agreement on Passenger Name Record (PNR) today. "Although the agreement may not 100 per-cent reflect the EU's position, the U.S. have made major concessions, in particular on the storage period, the method of transferring data, legal protection and the handling of sensitive data", said Axel Voss MEP who is in charge of PNR for the EPP Group.

"It is irresponsible not to support the agreement. Those who have not voted in favour of the agreement are leaving European citizens and airlines alike behind, in foggy legal uncertainty", said Voss.

"The U.S. as an independent state are clearly in a position where they can ask for whatever data they think necessary from people travelling to their country. It would be foolish to believe that no data would be transferred if there was no agreement. However, we are able to co-determine the legal framework and without the negotiated one, the level of data protection would be far lower", said the EPP Group Shadow Rapporteur.

PNR are date of flight passengers created by airlines in a computer reservation system. The final vote of the European Parliament on the EU-U.S. agreement on PNR will take place during the plenary session on 19 April in Strasbourg. The Lisbon Treaty makes international agreements of the EU with third countries subject to the approval of the European Parliament.

For further information:
Axel VOSS MEP, +32 2 284 7302
Thomas Bickl, EPP Group Press and Communications Service, Tel: +32-478-215372

Notes to Editors:
The EPP Group is by far the largest political group in the European Parliament with 271 Members.