Two-year review of Passenger Name Record Directive shows it delivered results in the fight against terrorism and serious crimes

Today, the Commission has adopted a report reviewing the first two years of application of the Passenger Name Record (PNR) Directive. The Directive regulates the collection and processing of PNR data by the EU Member States. This data is composed of the information provided by passengers and gathered by airlines in the normal course of their business. It is transferred to Member States to process for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime. The review concludes that the processing of PNR data has delivered results in the fight against terrorism and serious crimes, such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, child sexual abuse, child abduction and participation in organised crime groups. The review also confirms the commitment of national authorities to respect the Directive’s strict data protection safeguards and to implement them in practice. Most Member States have established fully operational Passenger Information Units, designated authorities tasked with collecting and processing PNR data. The Commission will continue to monitor the implementation of the PNR Directive and to work closely with the Member States. This will ensure that all the issues and challenges identified in the review are duly addressed so that the EU PNR mechanism becomes even more efficient, in full respect of fundamental rights. The review report will now be presented to the European Parliament and the Council.