‘Some MEPs disregarded the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice and voted in favour of unjustified mass surveillance. The ECJ ruled in April last year that the EU is not entitled to store personal data without a valid justification. The EU should instead aim for a targeted, proportionate monitoring, based on risk and suspicions in its efforts to combat organised crime and terrorism. The proposals adopted violate fundamental rights and so will again be submitted to the judges in Luxembourg.

‘Meantime, today’s vote means that all air passengers in the EU would be placed under general suspicion and their personal details scrutinised. Contact details, bank details, travel details and travel preferences: all these details would in future be collated to draw up an individual profile which will then be compared with risk profiles. This means a fully automatic mass screening with the resulting data being held for five years. The only remaining chance to stop these infringements will be the European Parliament’s final plenary vote after negotiations with EU Home Affairs Ministers.’

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