Law and Governance as Checks and Balances in Transatlantic Security: Rights, Redress, and Remedies in EU-US Passenger Name Records and the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program

Abstract

Contemporary Transatlantic Relations have flourished since their formalization in 1995 in the New Transatlantic Agenda (NTA).1 Although not itself a binding legal Treaty, it prioritized ‘transatlantic security’ as one of its objectives.2 The ‘September 11’ 2001 (9/11) terrorist attacks in the US provided a major impetus for the EU and US to engage in transatlantic security cooperation. It resulted in much legal output, specifically a wave of transatlantic Agreements in the area of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA).3 Amongst these Agreements, two in particular were enacted so as to firstly, communicate air passenger data to the US and secondly, to legalize the exchange of personal data for the purpose of terrorist finance tracking: the EU-US Passenger Name Records (EU-US PNR) Agreements and EU-US Terrorist Financial Tracking Programme (EU-US TFTP) Agreements respectively. Over a decade after 9/11, transatlantic security cooperation is still planned in new areas, for example,...