(VOVworld) -  An agreement on Passenger Name Record (PNR) was submitted to the EU Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee on Wednesday prior to being voted on the EU Parliament’s 1^st meeting next year. On December 4, the Ministers of Home Affairs of 28 EU countries agreed to launch PNR, which tracks information on passengers flying to and from the EU.

Passenger information including names, itineraries and credit card details will be collected

The agreement was signed at a meeting of EU’s Ministers of Home Affairs in Brussels following a series of terrorist attacks in the EU. Several countries have reviewed their security policy to prevent more tragedies like the attacks in Paris on November 13. The PNR system will trace the movements of people suspected of having ties to Islamic terrorist groups. Data of passengers on flights to and from EU countries would be retained by intelligence agencies for 6 months. Terrorist investigators would be allowed to access personal information like name, age, contacts, schedules, and credit cards. After 6 months, the data would be accessible only in limited cases, such as by a court order.

German Minister of Home Affairs Thomas de Maiziere said passenger data will help track the movement of suspected terrorists and other criminals. Timothy Kirkhope, an official of the EU Parliament, said the EU cannot wait any longer to implement the mechanism. France called it a breakthrough in ensuring security in the EU.

Discussed for the first time in 2011, the agreement was rejected by several EU members and the EU Parliament due to concerns about personal privacy. EU officials had to re-consider the agreement following recent terrorist attacks in the EU and the case of US intelligence foiling a terrorist plot at Times Square in New York in May, 2010, by using PNR.

The EU is currently using the Schengen system, an EU Information database on visas and immigration of non-EU citizens. If PNR is approved, it will be applied in all EU countries to share information under specific conditions.