EU-US airline data talks collapse

EU-US airline data talks collapse

Talks between the United States and the European Union on transferring airline passengers information and data have broken down, according to EU officials.

After 9/11, US authorities demanded that airlines provide personal passenger data for all inbound flights.

An earlier agreement was ruled to be illegal by the highest European court. The deadline for a new deal was today.

A European Commission spokesman said that a "legal vacuum" could be created by the lack of agreement.

Airlines refusing to provide passenger lists to the US may lose landing rights but those that do risk facing legal action under EU member states' data protection legislation.

EU Transport Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd told BBC News 24 that attempts to resolve the deadlock would continue.

"We will be discussing this at the highest political levels to see how we can take if forward. There is an imperative to sort it out sooner rather than later," he said.

Since 2003, US authorities have requested that airlines provide passengers' personal data to American security officials, including credit card information and telephone numbers.

Such data must be transferred to authorities within 15 minutes of a flight's departure for the US.

This practice was deemed illegal by the European Court of Justice.

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/5395928.stm