A European Commission spokesman said yesterday the commission agreed with the United States that talks must continue on the sharing of airline passenger data.
"Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini and US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff have agreed that talks must continue and agreement must be reached as soon as possible," said Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd.
Todd said earlier the talks had broken down, just hours before the existing agreement was due to expire between the United States and the European Union. Chertoff rejected the claim and said he was confident a new deal could be reached.