EU inks airline data deal with Canada

The EU has signed a deal with Canada that will allow European airlines to provide Canadian authorities with details of who is scheduled to fly on planes headed for the country.

After 11 September, the Canadian government authorised its border control agency to collect this information, but the EU said Canada had to change the way it handled the data, to comply with European data protection laws. The agreement will not come into effect until those changes have been made.

The Commission says that the deal involves a higher level of data protection than a similar one signed with the US last year, and fewer sets of data will be involved.

Commission vice president Franco Frattini commented: "It is important that we show the world we are able to maintain our human rights standards which form such a crucial part of our societies. The EU will continue to play its full part in securing data protection standards while at the same time stepping up joint action against terrorism." ®