The European Court of Justice on Tuesday overturned an agreement between the European Union and the United States, which had given US authorities access to personal information on passengers flying to the USA.
The European Commission agreed to the arrangement two years ago. Now the EU’s highest court has ruled that the decision did not have a proper legal basis.
The Finnish airline Finnair does not expect the ruling to have any immediate impact. Passengers flying to the United States will continue to be told that US authorities will have access to the information provided in connection with their reservation. If a passenger does not agree to the arrangement, he or she cannot travel, says Mirja Kuovi-Pekkanen, head of travel document affairs at Finnair.
"The fact is that the United States still wants the information. There are still no other options if you want to fly to the United States."
The Association of European Airlines (AEA) plans to ask the European Commission for clarification of the situation. The association hopes that clear and uniform procedures can be established in Europe. The airlines want to avoid a situation in which the United States would agree separately with each country on passenger data sharing.
Airlines also want clarification to the report that the present situation would remain unchanged until the end of September. Under the ruling, the current arrangement would remain in place for four months.
The matter was brought before the court by the European Parliament, which felt that the Commission had overstepped its authority when it made the decision. It did not take issue with the content of the agreement itself; the court did not give an opinion on whether or not the sharing of data was a violation of passengers’ privacy.
US officials currently have access to passenger data in airlines’ databases containing information such as credit card numbers, and flight routes of each passenger. The data can also include information such as car rentals handled by the travel agent, and special meals requested by the passenger.
