United States–European Union Agreement on Passenger Name Records

The European Union and United States have signed a deal on protecting personal data shared by law enforcement authorities in the EU and US.

The European Parliament approved on Thursday the new directive on the use of Passenger Name Record (PNR) data in the EU for fighting terrorism, trafficking and other types of serious crime.

The directive will oblige airlines to hand national authorities passengers' data for all flights from third countries to the EU and vice versa, the European Parliament said in a statement.

The Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council approved on Friday the compromise text agreed with the European Parliament on the proposal for a Passenger Name Record (PNR) directive.

The directive allows for the use of PNR data for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime.

The European Parliament's Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee (LIBE) approved Wednesday draft EU rules on sharing and protecting the Passenger Name Record (PNR) data of people flying to or from the EU, and its use by member states and Europol to fight terrorism and serious transnational crime.

The government has adopted a draft agreement between Bulgaria and the US on exchange of Passenger Name Record (PNR) data.

The agreement is to be signed and subsequently ratified, according to the press office of Bulgaria's Council of Ministers.