April 3 (SeeNews) - The European Commission said that it has closed an infringement procedure against Romania, as the country has fully transposed a directive regarding the passenger name record data into its national law.
The European Commission closed the same procedure on other seven member states: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Greece, Luxembourg and Portugal, it said in a statement on Thursday.
The Passenger Name Record Directive sets out the rules for the transfer of information provided by passengers to airlines when booking and checking-in for flights from airlines to member states' authorities and the processing of this data for law enforcement purposes.
The Commission is now assessing whether the transposition measures adopted by the eight member states are in conformity with the provisions of the directive. However, the decision to close the infringement procedures does not prejudge the result of that assessment.
"The processing of Passenger Name Record data is an important tool in the fight against terrorism and serious crime, helping to trace suspicious travel patterns and identify potential criminals and terrorists, including those previously unknown to law enforcement authorities," the EU noted.