ECR Group
#Defence: Verhofstadt 'playing a nasty game' on terrorism
After Guy Verhofstadt's ALDE accused the EPP and ECR Groups in the European Parliament are playing politics with Passenger Name Records (PNR), a response has been issued.
The parliament's rapporteur and member of the ECR Group, Timothy Kirkhope MEP, said: "Guy Verhofstadt's group has tried to scupper PNR from day one, using every procedural trick in the book. He is trying to delay its adoption now in the hope that it can be derailed yet again at the last minute.
"If Verhofstadt comes out and admits that he is against having an EU PNR system, then I'd have some respect for him. But to say in public that he wants a PNR system, and then to throw up every procedural obstacle possible, is dishonourable and dishonest.
"There is absolutely no need for the parliament to wait for the conclusion of work on data protection legislation. We included the data protection standards in the PNR proposal. The lawyers still have a lot of work to do on the Data Protection proposals which will not be ready for voting until May at the very earliest.
"The European Parliament agreed that PNR and data protection would be negotiated with EU governments side by side. We never committed to voting them side by side. Only one group is acting completely dishonourably and playing utterly cynical political games with terrorism, and that's the group that has opposed PNR from the start. I have done my utmost to act as a fair and honest broker but I am completely disgusted by Verhofstadt's pitiful political games."
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