[Dewayne-Net] Bush orders clampdown on flights to US

[Dewayne Hendricks]

Bush orders clampdown on flights to US

EU officials furious as Washington says it wants extra data on all air  
passengers

   * Ian Traynor in Brussels
   * The Guardian,
   * Monday February 11 2008
 This article appeared in the Guardian on Monday February 11 2008 on  
p1 of the Top stories section. It was last updated at 03:11 on  
February 11 2008.
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/11/usa.theairlineindustry/print 
>

The US administration is pressing the 27 governments of the European  
Union to sign up for a range of new security measures for  
transatlantic travel, including allowing armed guards on all flights  
from Europe to America by US airlines.

The demand to put armed air marshals on to the flights is part of a  
travel clampdown by the Bush administration that officials in Brussels  
described as "blackmail" and "troublesome", and could see west  
Europeans and Britons required to have US visas if their governments  
balk at Washington's requirements.

According to a US document being circulated for signature in European  
capitals, EU states would also need to supply personal data on all air  
passengers overflying but not landing in the US in order to gain or  
retain visa-free travel to America, senior EU officials said.

And within months the US department of homeland security is to impose  
a new permit system for Europeans flying to the US, compelling all  
travellers to apply online for permission to enter the country before  
booking or buying a ticket, a procedure that will take several days.

The data from the US's new electronic transport authorisation system  
is to be combined with extensive personal passenger details already  
being provided by EU countries to the US for the "profiling" of  
potential terrorists and assessment of other security risks.

Washington is also asking European airlines to provide personal data  
on non-travellers - for example family members - who are allowed  
beyond departure barriers to help elderly, young or ill passengers to  
board aircraft flying to America, a demand the airlines reject as  
"absurd".

Seven demands tabled by Washington are contained in a 10-page  
"memorandum of understanding" (MOU) that the US authorities are  
negotiating or planning to negotiate with all EU governments,  
according to ministers and diplomats from EU member states and senior  
officials in Brussels. The Americans have launched their security  
drive with some of the 12 mainly east European EU countries whose  
citizens still need visas to enter the US.

[snip]


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