EU-Canada Data-Sharing Deal Grounded

The Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") has rejected a proposed deal between the EU and Canada for the sharing of passenger data, claiming that it violates data protection and privacy laws. The purpose of the proposed Passenger Name Records (PNR) Agreement is to combat terrorism and transnational crime. However, the CJEU found that the PNR Agreement went beyond what was necessary to address those threats.

While the deal was initially agreed in 2014, it attracted a lot of debate in the European Parliament. In light of this, the Parliament, for the first time ever, exercised its right to refer the matter to the EU's top court for an opinion on the deal's compatibility with EU privacy laws and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights ("Charter").