The European Union believes it can swiftly rescue an annulled accord with the United States on air passenger data by making technical changes to it without changing its substance, officials said today.
The European Court of Justice cancelled on Tuesday a 2004 EU-US agreement under which European airlines supply US authorities information on passengers entering the United States including name, address, payment details and telephone numbers.
The EU's top court disputed the legal basis of the accord, but did not rule on a claim by EU lawmakers that the arrangement, which Washington says is vital to fighting terrorism, breached privacy rights.
"There was no verdict on the content, so why should we change it?" an official for the EU's executive Commission told a news briefing.
"We need as soon as possible to draft a new proposal ... and get it approved," he said, adding the EU planned to "keep the content and change the legal basis" of the May 2004 deal.
The European Court of Justice said the accord was struck within a legal framework pertaining to the supply of commercial services in the EU. It stipulated legal arrangements pertaining to public security should have been applied.
It gave the EU four months until September 30 to find a solution, meaning EU justice ministers meeting in Luxembourg tomorrow and Friday will already be under pressure to start work on a replacement.
European airlines and the United States believe the ruling will have no immediate impact on transatlantic air travel and left time to find a solution to the data transfer issue.
US Principal Deputy Assistance Secretary of State Kurt Volker said during a trip to Brussels the problem appeared to lie more in internal EU procedures than the substance of the accord and he was confident the EU could resolve those issues.
"We negotiated an agreement with the EU that both of us felt struck the right balance (between privacy and security issues)," he told a news briefing. "There seems to be a recognition that we did get the balance right and we want to stick with that."