EU LAW UPDATEON APRIL 26th last, the Council of the European Union adopted a decision supporting December's Passenger Name Record (PNR) Agreement with the US.
The new agreement, covering all flights to and from the US, will allow the US Department of Homeland Security to have access to, and retain for 15 years, data routinely collected by airlines.
This data includes passenger name; addresses; credit card details; seat numbers and – in “exceptional circumstances” – sensitive data such as a passenger’s ethnic origin, religious beliefs, physical or mental health or sexual orientation.
Should their data be misused, EU citizens will have the right to administrative and judicial redress under US law. It will likely enter into force on June 1st and will apply for a period of seven years, replacing the previous PNR agreement.
At the same justice and home affairs meeting, the council reached agreement on a general approach to a draft directive creating a single EU model for the recording and storage by member states of passenger data in intra-EU flights.
An expert group, appointed by commissioner for internal market Michel Barnier, recently published a consultation paper on reforming the structure of the EU banking sector.
In addition to considering ongoing regulatory reforms in the banking system, the group aims to identify structural reforms of individual banks with a view to reducing the probability and impact of failure to a banking system.
Submissions can be made by the public by June 1st. The group will present its final report to the commission by the end of the summer.
On May 4th, in Case T-529/09 in’t Veld v Council, the general court partially annulled a council decision to refuse an MEP access to an opinion of the council’s legal service on the legal basis for an EU-US agreement on the processing and exchange of data for the purpose of countering terrorism.
The European Court of Justice had previously found legal opinions were accessible under the EU’s access regulation; here the general court held that the principle of transparency applies to international affairs, particularly where an international agreement or ongoing negotiations have an impact on the EU’s legislative activity.
Having examined the document, the court found disclosure of its contents and the EU’s negotiating objectives could damage the “climate of confidence” in the negotiations and that access to the legal advice should be allowed, but should exclude that which related to these matters.
The European Commission has adopted a communication on state aid modernisation, setting out the objectives of a reform package, including supporting sustainable growth and improving the quality of public spending; enforcement that focuses on cases with the biggest impact on the internal market, and streamlined procedures to the deliver State within business-relevant timelines. The main elements are to be in place by the end of 2013.
Alan McCarthy and Ciarán Toland are members of the Irish Society for European Law.