20th December 2007

The legislation, passed last month in the Bundestag lower house, won approval Thursday from the upper chamber, the Bundesrat.

Under a European Union agreement with the United States that took effect in July, booking data for all US-bound flights from Europe is sent to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation when the flight takes off.

Berlin has now given its blessing to this. The United States is authorized to hold the data about Europeans for up to 15 years.

Germany's own federal police were authorized under the new law to receive and store data about incoming passengers. The airlines must disclose the name, birthplace, birthdate, nationality and other information about passengers.

Germany says this will not only help to profile terrorists on the move, but also improve checks against illegal immigration.

DPA