US Officials Say It's Model Of Cooperation

The US and European Union (EU) finally have deal. After months of haggling over details, European airlines are now allowed to share passenger information with US law enforcement officials -- legally.

US officials set the requirement to get passenger data such as addresses and certain credit card information after 9/11. It may seem Draconian, but passengers from many EU countries are allowed to travel to the US without obtaining a visa, a sort of hands-across-the-water deal for participating countries.

That makes it hard to track individuals coming from Europe, so the data collection system became a de facto visa system.

As ANN reported, European commission courts ruled the grounds under which European airlines were supplying the data was illegal, and that put the airlines in a bind.

Not supplying the data meant a fine from the US, but handing it over meant breaking EU law.

Finally, the two sides have an interim agreement, one that may serve as a model for other nations with similar issues. Under the agreement, US law enforcement still gets access to passenger data, but it no longer may pull that data from airline databases without permission.

A US homeland security official stressed the non-sensitive nature of the data. After all, he said, passengers willingly share it with the airline, travel agents, baggage handlers and customs officials.

US and EU officials hope to make the agreement permanent next year.

FMI: www.dhs.gov