E.U. caves on passenger data

last updated 8 January 2015

Brussels

The European Union’s foreign ministers agreed this week to give American authorities personal information about airline passengers flying from Europe to the U.S. The move was strongly opposed by the European Parliament, which wanted the E.U.’s high court to rule first on whether sharing such data—including a passenger’s bank account numbers and credit card records—was legal. “The foreign ministers have shown breathtaking arrogance,” said Johanna Boogerd-Quaak, a Dutch member of the European Parliament. “This issue will end up before the European Court of Justice.” E.U. ministers, who had the final say, pointed out that the U.S. had threatened to impose fines of $6,000 per passenger and to close American airports to European carriers if the E.U. did not comply.