Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-07-21-Speech-3-031"
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"en.20040721.1.3-031"2
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"Mr President, Mr President of the Commission, Taoiseach, ladies and gentlemen, as part of the consultation process, on 4 May this year the European Parliament expressed a critical opinion on the draft agreement between the United States and the European Union. The agreement requires that European air carriers disclose certain data pertaining to passengers travelling to the United States, such as bank account numbers, for example. The data is to be passed to the office responsible for customs and border protection in the Department of Homeland Security in the United States. Parliament stated that the agreement infringes European Union legislation. In particular, it felt the agreement eroded the level of protection of personal data guaranteed in Directive No 46 of 1995. Accordingly, Parliament approached the European Court of Justice and requested its opinion on the matter. Nonetheless, the Council finalised the agreement, disregarding the concerns expressed and taking advantage of the interruption of the business of the House due to the elections for a new Parliament.
This leads me to a question. Is it the Irish Presidency’s view that the level of protection of personal data afforded to European citizens should have been reduced as required by this agreement, despite the serious concerns expressed by Parliament? Does this not amount to a restriction of personal freedoms? I should like to know whether the Presidency has recognised the problem and whether it has endeavoured to take a stance on such an important issue.
In conclusion, and on a somewhat different note, I should like to congratulate the Irish Presidency most sincerely on concluding the negotiations on a Constitutional Treaty. The compromise achieved represents a success for the Presidency and a personal success for yourself, Taoiseach. It is actually a success for us all, because Europe and all of us need a constitution. The Irish Presidency succeeded in convincing the governments of the twenty-five Member States to support the Constitution. The task now is to convince the 450 million citizens of the European Union to support it as well. We must all work together to ensure that they do so. It will then be possible for the Constitution to come into force on 1 November 2009."@en1
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