| Author (Corporate) | European Commission: DG Migration and Home Affairs |
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| Series Details | COM (2022) 729 |
| Publication Date | 13/12/2022 |
| Content Type | Policy-making |
Summary:Legislative initiative tabled by the European Commission on 13 December 2022, concerning the collection and transfer of Advance Passenger Information (API). It introduces amendments to Regulation (EU) 2019/817 and Regulation (EU) 2018/1726. It seeks to repeal Council Directive 2004/82/EC. Further Information:Advance Passenger Information (API) is used in border management to enhance effectiveness and efficiency of border checks. It is an instrument used to facilitate traveller clearances and counter illegal immigration. API data is a set of identity information regarding the passengers contained in their travel documents combined with flight information collected at check-in and transferred to the border authorities of the country of destination. The establishment of systems for the collection and transfer of API data is an international standard under the Convention on International Civil Aviation since 2017. In the European Union, it is regulated by Regulation Council Directive 2004/82/EC, also known as API Directive. That Directive imposes an obligation on air carriers to transfer API data, upon request, to the border authorities of the country of destination prior to the flight’s take-off. However, it does not impose an obligation on Member States to request API data from air carriers. An assessment of the Directive highlighted that even where Member States request API data, their national authorities do not always use API data in a consistent way. The API Directive sets only limited criteria for the collection, transmission and processing of API data as regards the flight coverage for the collection of data, the data elements to be collected, or the means to capture the data. The evaluation showed that this situation led to very divergent practices. This draft law reviews the existing legislative framework on the collection and transfer of API data. It introduces uniform rules on API data collection, mandatory API data collection for the purposes of border management and migration and for law enforcement purposes. It seeks to gather better quality API data and streamline transmission of API data by air carriers to national authorities through a new router, managed by eu-LISA. The proposal was adopted by the European Commission on 13 December 2022, as one of the actions of the EU Security Union Strategy. It seeks to repeal the API Directive, and introduce amendments to Regulation (EU) 2019/817 on the interoperability between EU information systems and Regulation (EU) 2018/1726 on the eu-LISA agency. The Council of the European Union adopted its general approach to the text on 21 June 2023. The plenary of the European Parliament endorsed a negotiating position for the proposal on 13 December. An informal agreement between the co-legislators on a compromise text for this file on 1 March 2024. |
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| Source Link | https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=COM:2022:729:FIN |
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| Subject Categories | Justice and Home Affairs |
| Subject Tags | Air Transport, Border Control | Management, Police | Judicial Cooperation |
| International Organisations | European Union [EU] |
