The European Parliament has adopted laws updating how airlines gather and transmit security-relevant passenger information ahead of flights.
MEPs adopted two laws on Advance Passenger Information (API), which had already been agreed with the European Council, enhancing security at the EU’s external borders. Biometric data was excluded from the scope of the laws.
Companies will have to systematically collect passenger data, including name, date of birth, nationality and passport details, and transmit it to competent authorities. For border management purposes, the rules will apply to flights arriving in an EU country from a third country and, for law enforcement purposes, also to flights departing from an EU country. In the latter case, member states that have chosen to apply existing rules on passenger name records (PNR) can choose to apply the rules to selected flights within the EU, strictly based on foreseeable terrorist threats and other objective criteria, in line with the Court of Justice ruling from 2022.
Currently, the member states have different systems for gathering and transferring passenger data. The new laws are intended to improve data quality, as consistent and automated logging will replace manual logging.
API data will be transmitted automatically through a single router, which will also become the mandatory means of transmitting PNR data. The law stipulates that API data can be collected without air carrier checks of all travel documents before boarding, for instance when traveling within the Schengen area. In negotiations, MEPs secured provisions banning the profiling of individuals based on API data or statistics derived from it.
The laws are expected to be finalized after the EU elections in June. Once published in the EU’s Official Journal, they will enter into force 20 days later.
In related news, negotiators from the Belgian presidency of the European Council and European Parliament recently provisionally agreed on two regulations that govern the collection and use of air passenger data for border management and law enforcement. Click here to read the full story.