After the European Parliament consented to the US PNR Agreement by 409 to 226 votes (strangely the EUObserver thinks this is "half-hearted" support; I call it a pretty solid majority), the Council has also passed the Agreement.
The treaty will probably come into force on 1st June 2012 (PDF).
The Parliament is also currently debating the EU's own PNR system, which monitors passengers on flights into and out of the EU (though it may be extended to cover flights within the EU if the proposal is amended) by collecting the flight information of all passengers. The LIBE Committee's draft report has been published (PDF), and there are over 400 proposed amendments to the proposed Directive (PDF 1 and 2).
Showing posts with label airport security. Show all posts
Showing posts with label airport security. Show all posts
Friday, 27 April 2012
Thursday, 19 April 2012
EU-US PNR vote today
The European Parliament is going to vote in plenary today on the EU-US PNR Agreement (you can watch the debate here - it's on now), which will permit the transfer of passenger data (including credit card, luggage and meal choice details) from airlines to US authorities when flying to the US. Rapporteur Sophie in 't Veld's report recommended that the agreement be rejected due to a lack of guarantees that US authorities won't use the data for purposes other than the fight against terrorism and serious transnational crime, and because EU citizens will not have sufficient access to legal redress under the agreement.
However the LIBE Committee rejected this report and the EP is likely to accept the agreement, though the BBC reports that it may be by a thin majority. It seems that worries over the US bypassing the EU and making bilateral agreements with national governments and a sense that the EP has already made at least some display of strength over forcing a renegotiation have fed into the desire to vote for the agreement.
However the LIBE Committee rejected this report and the EP is likely to accept the agreement, though the BBC reports that it may be by a thin majority. It seems that worries over the US bypassing the EU and making bilateral agreements with national governments and a sense that the EP has already made at least some display of strength over forcing a renegotiation have fed into the desire to vote for the agreement.
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
An Explosive Security Test
Airport security has had one of its regular revivals as a news topic since the attempted bombing in the US, and there's always questions of liberty versus security. But a airport security has reared its head in Europe is far stranger circumstances today, when it emerged that explosives were smuggled into Ireland after a security test by Slovakian authorities went wrong.
It seems that a security test was run, where explosives would be smuggled past airport security in Bratislava airport to see if they'd be spotted (much like the security test at public buildings in the US a few months ago). However, instead of using a civil servant or someone trained in the security sector, the explosives were simply planted on an unsupecting traveller.
Airport security missed the explosives, and the man flew on to Dublin, and went home, without knowing he was carrying illegal material. He didn't notice what had been planted in his luggage, and it wasn't discovered until Bratislava informed the Irish Gardaí (police) - three days later.
It just seems amazing that Bratislava could put someone who was essentially an unsuspecting passer-by through something like that, and that it took 3 days to contact Irish authorities!
This comes as yesterday the Spanish rotating presidency of the Council pushed for greater intelligence sharing to combat terrorism. Although it wasn't military intelligence in this case, information sharing between member states' authorities are meant to be made easier by the EU and the Lisbon Treaty - though it's not clear what the source of any communications problems were at this point.
It seems that a security test was run, where explosives would be smuggled past airport security in Bratislava airport to see if they'd be spotted (much like the security test at public buildings in the US a few months ago). However, instead of using a civil servant or someone trained in the security sector, the explosives were simply planted on an unsupecting traveller.
Airport security missed the explosives, and the man flew on to Dublin, and went home, without knowing he was carrying illegal material. He didn't notice what had been planted in his luggage, and it wasn't discovered until Bratislava informed the Irish Gardaí (police) - three days later.
It just seems amazing that Bratislava could put someone who was essentially an unsuspecting passer-by through something like that, and that it took 3 days to contact Irish authorities!
This comes as yesterday the Spanish rotating presidency of the Council pushed for greater intelligence sharing to combat terrorism. Although it wasn't military intelligence in this case, information sharing between member states' authorities are meant to be made easier by the EU and the Lisbon Treaty - though it's not clear what the source of any communications problems were at this point.
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