Regulation (EU) 2025/12 on the collection and transfer of advance passenger information for enhancing and facilitating external border checks

What it is

to present new rules on the collection and transfer of advance passenger information (API) to facilitate external border controls, combat illegal immigration and increase internal security. PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Union and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council. BACKGROUND: Advance Passenger Information (API) is information on a passenger collected at check-in or at boarding. It includes information about the passenger and information about their flight. In 2019, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) reported 4.5 billion passengers globally carried by air transport on scheduled services, with over half a billion passengers that enter or leave the EU every year. This puts a strain on the external air borders of the EU as all travellers, meaning non-EU nationals, and EU citizens crossing the external borders, should be effectively and systematically checked against the relevant databases. To ensure that checks can be performed efficiently on every air passenger, there is a need to speed up border controls at airports and ensure the facilitation of passenger flows while at the same time maintaining a high level of security. The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs adopted the report by Jan-Christoph OETJEN (Renew, DE) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the collection and transfer of advance passenger information (API) for enhancing and facilitating external border controls, amending Regulation (EU) 2019/817 and Regulation (EU) 2018/1726, and repealing Council Directive 2004/82/EC. The committee responsible recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the proposal as follows: The amended text stated that air carriers should collect API data of passengers, consisting of the passenger data and the flight information, respectively, on the flights for the purpose of transferring that API data to the router. Where the flight is code-shared between one or more air carriers, the obligation to transfer the API data should be on the air carrier that operates the flight. The collection of API data should not include an obligation for air carriers to check the travel document at the moment of boarding the aircraft or an obligation for passengers to carry a travel document when travelling, without prejudice to acts of national law that are compatible with Union law. The collection of API data by automated means should not lead to the collection of any biometric data from the travel document. Where air carriers provide an online check-in process, they should enable passengers to provide the API data during the online check-in process, using automated means . Air carriers should ensure that API data is encrypted during the transmission of the data from the passenger to the air carriers. At the moment of check-in, air carriers should transfer the API data in accordance with this Regulation and relevant international standards. Air…

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