Airlines operating passenger flights to, from or through the US have been transferring passenger data contained in their reservation and departure control systems to US Customs since March last year, in order to comply with US anti-terror requirements.
The transfer has been controversial, not only because the US does not meet general EU data protection requirements, but because a proposed agreement setting out the terms of the transfer has also been found wanting.
The European Parliament has so far refused to endorse or reject the agreement outright, but has still made its disapproval quite clear, most recently on 21st April, when it voted to refer the agreement to the European Court of Justice. But the Commission and Council are keen to press ahead.
Last week, using a procedure known as an "urgency request", the Council asked the Parliament to vote again on the deal at the last full session before the Parliamentary elections. This session was originally expected to be a ceremonial occasion to welcome the 162 newly sworn MEPs from the accession countries.
But in a bureaucratic sleight of hand the MEPs simply voted on whether the issue should be given a further vote and decided, by 343 votes to 301, with 18 abstentions, against a new vote.
According to Tony Bunyan, of civil rights group Statewatch, "The Commission, the EU governments and the US Mission in Brussels were counting on the MEPs from the ten new Member States to reverse the two previous votes in the Parliament - instead the majority against the "deal" increased. This is good news for civil liberties and for democracy."
According to a report on EUpolitix, Dutch liberal MEP, and leading opponent of the transfer agreement, Johanna Boogerd-Quaak, said:
"This means that we have now voted five times to speak out against this agreement with the US. I hope the Council now understands that no means no."
The referral to the Court of Justice therefore continues. A ruling against the Commission may force it to redraft the agreement. However this might not be necessary as the US is able to renegotiate the deal with individual Member States directly. In any event, while the Court process rumbles on, so too does the informally agreed transfer of air passenger data to the US.