On 18 February 2020, the Council gave green light to the Commission to start negotiations with Japan on an agreement on the transfer and use of passenger name record (PNR) data. The Council endorsed the respective negotiating directives recommended by the Commission in September 2019 (see eucrim 3/2019, p. 175). The Agreement will set out the framework and conditions for the exchange of PNR data, so that they can be used to prevent and fight terrorism and serious crime. PNR data is personal information provided by passengers, which is collected and held by air carriers (e.g., name of passenger, travel dates, itineraries, seats, baggage, contact details, and means of payment).

The data transfer to Japan will be in line with the EU General Data Protection Regulation as the Commission attested Japan to guarantee an adequate level of protection of personal data in January 2019.