EU- Canada PNR agreement: Advice to European Court re-affirms legal concerns - Main contents

The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice has today stated that the EU- Canada PNR agreement cannot be signed in its current form. Sophie In’t Veld, ALDE Group first vice-president and European Parliament’s rapporteur for the agreement, hopes that the Court will present the final opinion as soon as possible as the agreement cannot be adopted if the Court confirms that certain provisions of the agreement breach the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. At the initiative of Sophie In’t Veld, the European Parliament had requested an opinion from the European Court of Justice on the compatibility of the EU-Canada PNR agreement with the EU Treaties, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, as well as with recent rulings adopted by the European Court of Justice.

Reacting to today’s decision, Sophie In’t Veld, European Parliament’s rapporteur for the EU- Canada PNR agreement, said:

"For years now we have questioned the necessity and proportionality of a massive transfer of European passenger data and the legal basis for this. The Advocate-General states that in its current form the agreement between the EU and Canada breaches the European privacy legislation and does not comply with the Charter of Fundamental Rights”.

“The Advocate General underlines, among others, that the purposes for which the personal data can be used are not sufficiently limited, and that it has not been justified on the basis of objective evidence that the data storage period of maximum five years is necessary. Moreover, the opinion states that the agreement is only compatible with the Charter of Fundamental Rights if the use of PNR data is targeting persons who can be reasonably suspected of crime or terrorism”.

"We need to know quickly whether the Court comes to the same conclusion as the Advocate General, who also says that the legal basis of the agreement must be complemented with Art 16, relating to the right to privacy”.

“Although the Court's ruling is not binding, it may have far-reaching implications for other rules and agreements on the widespread use of personal data”.

“After the 2006 PNR, the Schrems and the data retention rulings, this is the umpteenth demonstration that sloppy law making is counterproductive. Security measures must be legally sound and stand up in court”.

“For the liberals it is important that the storage and transfer of personal data is done correctly, and does not go beyond what it is strictly necessary. The opinion of the advocate general clearly states that the use of personal data for the purpose of fighting terrorism and serious crime is legitimate, but that certain safeguards and limitations must be respected”.

Note to editors

The agreement between the EU and Canada was signed on 25 June 2014 and the Council requested the European Parliament's consent to this new PNR agreement with Canada on 8 July 2014. This is the first time the European Court of Justice has been called upon to give a ruling on the compatibility of a draft international agreement with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU.

Press release ALDE - http://www.alde.eu