Following a debate in the European Parliament today on anti-terrorism measures and tightening regulations on passenger name records (PNR), S&D Group president Gianni Pittella said:
"Our citizens need security. They expect a comprehensive response to the recent terrorist attacks from the European Union, focusing not only on the immediate consequences but also on the roots of the problem.
"We do not need symbolic and inconclusive actions which restrict the free movement of EU citizens. For the S&D Group, fundamental rights and freedoms are not negotiable. Giving these values up and surrounding ourselves with walls means giving in to the terrorists. Terrorist attacks should be addressed with more and not less democracy.
"We are ready to discuss improving PNR. However, we demand an approach which fully respects individual rights, with a clearly defined scope and clarity on the retention period for PNR data. Any change to the use of PNR will turn out to be useless if national intelligence services do not exchange information and data on a regular basis under a Community framework. If we want Europe to act rather than just react, we need the EU to equip itself with a real common foreign policy. This would be the decisive contribution in the battle for security and freedom."
Birgit Sippel, S&D spokesperson on civil liberties, justice and home affairs, added:
"In its judgement on data retention, the Court of Justice set out a very strict method for assessing whether a surveillance measure is in line with European fundamental rights. Every new counter-terrorism proposal – such as the use of EU PNR – therefore has to satisfy this fundamental rights check, otherwise we cannot accept it.
"In particular, the Commission and Council must provide compelling proof as to why additional measures are necessary instead of tackling the shortcomings of the instruments already in place, such as the Schengen Information System database (SIS)."
