EU Parliament approved on Passenger Name Record

Due to the fact that security specialists and the EU member states have pushed for European rules on Passenger Name Record (PNR) for years, the latest acts of terror in Europe just increased these requestes. These demands have been met by EU Parliament as it approved the bill concerning a more systematic collection, use and retention of data on international airline passengers on 14 April 2016.

However, a first attempt on implementing rules on the use of PNR was rejected in 2013 due to concerns about the necessity and scope of the proposal and its compliance with fundamental rights. The civil liberties committee then discussed a new draft text on PNR on 26 February 2015 and on 15 July 2015 this text was adopted. Safeguards were included ensuring the lawfulness of any use of the data, so that the data should only be used in order to fight terrorism and serious international crime. After negotianting EU Parliament and the Council reached a provisional deal on 4 December 2015. During a plenary session on 14 April 2016 the text was then approved by 461 votes to 179, with nine absentions.