Influential members of the European Parliament have announced their opposition to the proposals of Europe's 27 interior and justice ministers to tighten airport security by extending the scope for dragnet operations.

Following a meeting in Toledo, Spain, ministers proposed speeding up the introduction of measures to collect passengers' data for dragnet anti-terror operations, even though they had earlier resisted US calls for the wholesale use of body-scanners in airports.

"It will be very difficult for the European Council to get a majority in parliament for this proposal," said Manfred Weber, deputy head of the Christian Democratic faction of the European Parliament.

Justice spokesman for the Green party faction, Jan Philipp Albrecht, accused EU domestic commissioner Jacques Barrot and the European Council of creating facts for their own purposes. But he pointed out that the Lisbon Treaty, which came into force at the beginning of December, empowered the European Parliament to full participation in decision-making on internal affairs, with the power to block legislation.

Protector of human rights

The European Parliament has increasingly defined itself as a guardian of human rights in recent years, and is already in a long-term dispute with the Council over the Swift agreement, which allows banks to pass on account details to the United States.

US authorities like the FBI currently have access to 19 different pieces of private information about European air passengers, including the name, address and bank details. This is the result of an agreement made with the EU in 2007.

bk/dpa/AFP
Editor: Rob Turner