The US and EU have clinched a deal giving US law enforcement agencies easier access to personal data on transatlantic air passengers to fight terrorism.
The EU's top court struck down a past agreement after a European Parliament challenge prompted by privacy concerns.
That expired last Saturday, creating a legal vacuum airlines feared could expose them to breach of privacy suits.
EU lawmakers raised worries that Washington was riding roughshod over data protection concerns in its quest after the 11 September, 2001, attacks to further a "war on terrorism" whose tactics many Europeans question.
One Greek left-wing deputy accused the EU of having "totally caved in" to US pressure.
EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini said the deal, clinched in nine hours of overnight negotiations, would make it easier for US law enforcement agencies to obtain the information without giving them automatic electronic access.
"We are not talking about more data or more exchanges, we are talking about making it easier to transmit data," he told a news briefing at an EU justice ministers' meeting in Luxembourg.
US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told Reuters the agreement satisfied US security needs and would allow earlier access to data if needed - with airlines maybe having to provide it more than 72 hours before departure.
