Agreement between the United States of America and the European Union on the use and transfer of passenger name records to the United States Department of Homeland Security

The EU and the US signed a first PNR agreement in 2004 which had to be terminated following a decision by the ECJ (lack of legal basis). A provisional agreement was signed in 2006, later replaced by an agreement signed at Brussels and Washington, 23 and 26 July 2007.

Following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and pending the conclusion of the agreement, the Council sent the 2007 U.S. Agreement to the European Parliament for its consent for the conclusion. The European Parliament adopted a resolution in which it decided to postpone its vote on the requested consent and requesting a renegotiation of the Agreement on the basis of certain criteria. Pending such renegotiation, the 2007 Agreement remained provisionally applicable.

The new agreement of 2011 takes into consideration and is consistent with the general criteria laid down in the Communication from the Commission on the Global Approach to the transfer of Passenger Name Record (PNR) data to third countries and the negotiating directives given by the Council.

PNR has proven to be a very important tool in the fight against terrorism and serious crime. The Agreement has secured several important safeguards for those whose data will be transferred and used. In particular, the purpose of processing of PNR data is strictly limited to preventing, detecting, investigating and prosecuting terrorist offences and serious transnational crime. The retention period of the PNR data is limited and PNR will be used for a shorter period in the fight against serious transnational crime and a longer one for terrorism.