EU rule on airline lists undermines UK eBorders scheme

An EU plan to would restrict how airline passenger lists are used could be a deterrent to efforts in the UK aimed at controlling illegal immigration, according to a warning issued by the Home Secretary on Wednesday.

Jacqui Smith, the UK Home Secretary, stressed that the European Union plan to harmonise the way in which member governments use airline passenger data poses a “real risk” to the effectiveness of the UK e-Borders programme.

The objective of the e-Borders scheme is to count every visitor as they enter and exit the country, to make it possible to identify illegal immigrants.

Government ministers have joined in saying that UK borders would come under threat by this proposed EU rule, which effectively would ban checking airplane passenger lists.

At this time, Britain collects 30 million passenger name records (PNR) annually, including information such as names, addresses, email addresses, information on luggage, flight reservation date, itinerary, method of payment - and whether they turned up for their flight.

A crucial part of having this information is to be able to link a passenger’s name with a particular credit card and flight. This type of information can be vital in security and police investigations.

The EU plan calls for its member states to collect and share information on passengers who are on flights in and out of the EU, to help combat organized crime and terrorist activity.

The plan states that member governments should not be collecting passenger information on flights within Europe, and that they should not be using any information collected to control illegal immigration.

europa.eu