US Partnership On Data Is On Track
Brussels, 11th November 2010
Brussels, 11th November 2010 -- The upcoming Passenger Name Records Agreements with the U.S., Canada, and Australia were today debated by MEPs in the European Parliament. These new agreements, which set a framework the transfer of information to the USA, will safeguard both lives and liberties, Timothy said yesterday.
Today the parliament will vote on its red lines for the upcoming negotiations between the EU institutions and the USA.
Timothy has been a strong supporter of the agreements from the start, and hopes that lessons have been learnt by all the EU institutions from the difficult SWIFT (Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme) negotiations which was initially rejected by MEPs.
Speaking in the Plenary yesterday, in the debate for EU - US relations, Timothy said:
"The USA is our most important and significant partner in the fight to ensure Europe's safety, and in the fight against global terrorism and organised crime.
"Events of the last couple of weeks have shown that aviation safety should be at the forefront of all legislators' minds, and that the fight to secure European airports and flights is far from over.
"I hope that negotiations will mark the start of achieving an agreement which everyone, including the US, governments and the parliament can all support.
"The European Parliament must use its new found powers responsibly, and act in a spirit of compromise and cooperation in order to achieve the best agreement possible in order to not only protect the data of European citizens but also to ensure their safety."
