Hungarian President rejects US-EU passenger data deal

New to Raw Story? Click here to visit our home page for the latest news.

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Wednesday November 29, 2006

Budapest- Hungary's president Laszlo Solyom on Wednesday refused to sign into law a passenger data agreement between the US and the European Union that was agreed in October. Solyom's spokesman Ferenc Weber said that the president had refused to sign the law because it was not clear whether data security was sufficiently assured.

The US has sought passenger data since the 9-11 attacks, and the deal was struck with the EU after the European Court of Justice struck down an earlier arrangement.

The deal saw the EU agrees to provide 34 pieces of information about each passenger to the US.

Solyom said that the data should only be given to the US if the passengers involved explicitly agree to the transfer.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency