EU cooperates with USA's Dept of Homeland Security

national | miscellaneous | news report Wednesday February 19, 2003 19:23 by Phuq Hedd

Slashdot: EU airlines to hand over passenger data to US spies

Hey, who are these EU Commission clowns anyway? Do I get to elect them?

"We were fully behind the Americans in their fight against terrorism and we wanted to promote cooperation and flexibility," said EU spokesman Gilles Gantelet. "Of course we have this very difficult legal situation."

He described the new agreement as a "transitional system" until a permanent arrangement makes its way through the EU legislative process.

"We think assurances given by the United States are sufficient on the law," he said, but a formal arrangement would have to be approved by the 15 EU governments and the European Parliament.