Officials' comments on PNR judgment

U.S., European and airline officials said they were not surprised by the ruling, and they pledged to work together to find a way to continue to satisfy the U.S. demand for information about people traveling to the United States. They said there would be no disruption of flights or additional inconveniences to passengers during the busy summer tourist season as a result of the decision.

"The ruling ensures that there is no lowering of data protection standards, no effect on passengers, no disruption of transatlantic air traffic and that a high level of security is maintained until September 30," European Commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger told reporters.

In a telephone interview, a U.S. official in Brussels read a similarly worded statement.
"We've been in touch with European institutions to talk about how to deal with what came down," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "No one knew what it would say until today, but there were contacts between European institutions and U.S. authorities to agree to handle this in a smooth way, whatever happened."

(The Washington Post)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/30/AR2006053001003.html