Researchers provide recommendations to the European Parliament following plans to reform the API legal framework

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Professor Valsamis Mitsilegas, Dean of the School of Law and Social Justice and Professor of European and Global Law, and Dr Niovi Vavoula, Senior Lecturer in Migration and Security, Queen Mary University of London, provide an analysis of the European Commission’s proposals to reform the Advance Passenger Information (API) legal framework.

In a study, commissioned by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs at the request of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice, and Home Affairs (LIBE) Committee, researchers analyse the European Commission’s proposals to reform the legal framework on the processing of Advance Passenger Information (API) data.

The analysis takes stock of the current legal framework regarding the processing of travellers’ data, which will contribute to the preparation of two LIBE forthcoming legislative reports on this matter, as well as to the subsequent negotiations with the Council.

The study also provides an outline of the Commission’s proposals, followed by an assessment of the fundamental rights implications, in particular the right to respect for private life (Article 7 of the EU Charter of fundamental rights), protection of personal data (Article 8), and freedom of movement (Article 45).

Based on the analysis, researchers made twenty-one recommendations, covering key areas such as the protection of fundamental rights and the principle of non-discrimination; security standards; clear assessment criteria for the collections and transfer of API data; inclusion of safeguards regarding the use of statistical data; and to the individual rights of travellers, amongst others.

These policy recommendations will inform future decisions on reforming the API legal framework.

 

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