HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT RATIFIES US-EU PASSENGER

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUDAPEST 000032 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/NCE - LABONTE, EUR/ERA - WALKER, AND EB - WIN DAYTON E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/07/2012 TAGS: ECON PREL HU SUBJECT: HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT RATIFIES US-EU PASSENGER DATA-SHARING AGREEMENT REF: LABONTE-GAUDIOSI E-MAILS AND PREVIOUS Classified By: POL/C ERIC V. GAUDIOSI; REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (U) On December 22, the Hungarian Parliament formally ratified a government act operationalizing the US-EU Agreement on Passenger Data Sharing, thus formalizing its prevous agreement to implement the accord in practice. ¶2. (C) The text of the government act was modified slightly from its original draft in order to address concerns raised by Hungarian President Solyom, who had questioned whether the act complied with provisions of the Hungarian constitution. (Note: Solyom, a former President of the Constitutional Court, is widely considered to be legalistic and is known to take a particular interest in issues regarding individual rights. MFA officials regarded Solyom's original objections to be unfortunate but not atypical timing on his part. They have hastened to reaffirm their commitment to addressing his concerns in order to move forward with formal ratification as quickly as possible. End note.) ¶3. (U) The revision to the text consists of the addition of the following paragraph, designed to serve as a consent form for travelers before departure for the U.S.: "Having read and understood the above I consent to my data being processed and also consent to such data, appearing in my passport and requested by the abovementioned authority, being forwarded to Malev Hungarian Airlines before the departure of my flight, and Malev Hungarian Airlines provides electronic access to CBP to the personal and sensitive data contained in automated reservation and departure control systems." ¶4. (C) We understand from MFA sources that this text was added specifically to address the concerns raised by the President re the necessity of the passengers' informed consent. There has been no indication of further opposition from his office to the revised act. ¶5. (U) Post will remain in close contact with GoH sources as they finalize plans for the implementation of the new regime. REEKER