Chertoff hits out at EU 'misconceptions' over PNR

US homeland security chief Michael Chertoff has contradicted those MEPs who claim that passenger name record (PNR) data is an invasion of privacy.

Speaking in Brussels on Sunday, Chertoff decried what he called a "misconception" about invasion of privacy, arguing that PNR data allows governments to focus on high-risk individuals.

"To do that, we must beat back those people who argue that any time we collect a little information or any time we place a secure document requirement in the law, it is somehow the end of civil liberties," Chertoff told a high-level conference.

"We need to engage that and to make the point that it actually enhances civil liberties.

"PNR will allow us to focus on those few individuals who pose a risk to public safety."

The PNR issue has bitterly divided parliament, with some MEPs saying that the deal signed last year by the US-EU administration for the transfer of air passengers’ data fails to offer an adequate level of data protection.

EU deputies also said the agreement had been concluded without any involvement of parliaments from both sides.

Meanwhile, Javier Solana, the EU's high representative for the common foreign and security policy, said the Middle East peace process continues to falter.

Speaking at the same Brussels forum event as Chertoff, he said, "I think what has to happen is a change in the reality on the ground.

"If nothing changes from the ground, it will be very difficult to convey to the people of the region and the international community that is their will to move the process forward.

"So far, nothing has happened on the ground and nothing good."

Brussels forum is an annual high-level meeting of the most influential political, corporate, and intellectual leaders worldwide to address pressing challenges facing both sides of the Atlantic. 

Organised by the German Marshall fund, participants included heads of state, senior officials from the EU institutions and member states, US cabinet officials, congressional representatives, MEPs, think-tank leaders, academics and corporate executives.

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