Council Decision (EU) 2025/2641 of 16 December 2025 authorising the opening of negotiations with the Republic of Korea for an agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Korea on the transfer of Passenger Name Record (PNR) data from the European Union to the Republic of Korea for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime
Date: 2025-12-16
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: European Commission, South Korea, air transport, data protection, exchange of information, fight against crime, negotiation of an agreement (EU), personal data, powers of the institutions (EU), terrorism, traveller




L_202502641EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
L series













2025/2641


22.12.2025







            COUNCIL DECISION (EU) 2025/2641
         
of 16 December 2025
         
authorising the opening of negotiations with the Republic of Korea for an agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Korea on the transfer of Passenger Name Record (PNR) data from the European Union to the Republic of Korea for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime


THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 16(2) and Article 87(2), point (a), in conjunction with Article 218(3) and (4) thereof,


Having regard to the recommendation from the European Commission,

Whereas:







(1)


Negotiations should be opened with a view to concluding an Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Korea on the transfer of Passenger Name Record (PNR) data from the European Union to the Republic of Korea for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime (the ‘Agreement’).












(2)


The Agreement should respect fundamental rights and observe the principles recognised by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the ‘Charter’), as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the European Union, in particular the right to respect for private and family life recognised in Article 7 of the Charter, the right to the protection of personal data recognised in Article 8 of the Charter and the right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial recognised in Article 47 of the Charter. The Agreement should be applied in accordance with those rights and principles and having due regard for the principle of proportionality, in accordance with Article 52(1) of the Charter.












(3)


The provisions of the Agreement are to be set out further to the applicable international standards on PNR, as set out in the Convention on International Civil Aviation, namely in its Annex 9 (Facilitation), Chapter 9 (Passenger Data Exchange System), Section D (Passenger Name Record (PNR) data).












(4)


In accordance with Article 3 of Protocol No 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice, annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Ireland has notified, by letter of 28 November 2025, its wish to take part in the adoption and application of this Decision.












(5)


In accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of Protocol No 22 on the position of Denmark, annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Denmark is not taking part in the adoption of this Decision and is not bound by it or subject to its application.












(6)


The European Data Protection Supervisor was consulted in accordance with Article 42 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) and delivered its Opinion 28/2025 on 6 November 2025,





HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:



Article 1
The Commission is hereby authorised to open negotiations for an Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Korea on the transfer of Passenger Name Record (PNR) data from the Union to the Republic of Korea for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime.
The negotiations shall be conducted on the basis of the negotiating directives of the Council set out in the addendum to this Decision.


Article 2
The Commission is hereby nominated as the Union negotiator.


Article 3

1.   The negotiations shall be conducted in consultation with the Working Party on JHA Information Exchange (IXIM), subject to any directives which the Council may subsequently issue to the Commission.


2.   The Commission shall report to the Council on the conduct, the progress and the outcome of the negotiations on a regular basis and whenever requested by the Council, and shall forward the relevant documents to it as early as possible in order to allow the members of the Council reasonable time to prepare themselves properly for the forthcoming negotiations.


3.   Where appropriate, or where requested by the Council, the Commission shall produce a written report.



Article 4
This Decision is addressed to the Commission.




Done at Brussels, 16 December 2025.


For the Council


The President

M. BJERRE
            





(1)  Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/1725/oj).


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2025/2641/oj
ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)