The future EU PNR system: will passenger data be protected?

After the terrorist attacks occurred in Paris and Copenhagen in the beginning of 2015, numerous Member States announced their plans to establish several new counter-terrorism measures, among which they would create national databases that would store information on travellers flying to their countries. This article examines the negative consequences that could result from the establishment of a fragmented scheme for the processing of passenger name records (pnr) in the eu. The proposed eu pnr Directive is also an object of this study. It assesses the past and current claims from the ep for the inclusion of adequate data protection safeguards in the proposal. It also compares the proposed directive with the current eu-us pnr Agreement and the existing national pnr regimes. This paper demonstrates that a multiplicity of pnr systems in the eu would clearly jeopardise the efficiency of such programmes. Moreover, a divided framework would offer low data protection standards for passengers. Therefore, this article is in favour of the adoption of an eu pnr Directive, as the only way to ensure consistency and adequacy for the processing of passenger data within the eu.