International News

LUXEMBOURG, (APP/AFP) – An EU-Canada deal to share air passenger data in a bid to fight terrorism cannot be passed in its present form as it would breach privacy laws, the chief legal advisor to the European Union’s top court said Thursday.
The European Court of Justice’s advocate general said he reached the
conclusion based on the court’s decision last year to strike down a separate
pact between the EU and United States on sharing internet information.
The agreement to transfer passenger name record (PNR) data between the EU and Canada allows authorities to exceed the aim of preventing and detecting terrorism or crime, said the advocate general, Paolo Mengozzi.
The court is not obliged to follow the advocate general’s rulings when it hands down its final decision, but it frequently does.
“According to Advocate General Mengozzi, the agreement on the transfer of passenger name record data, planned between the European Union and Canada, cannot be entered into in its current form,” the court said in a statement.
“A number of provisions of the draft agreement are incompatible with EU fundamental rights.”