EU panel votes to gather airline passenger data

A key committee of EU lawmakers has voted in favor of a new plan to track extremist fighters, paving the way for the long-delayed system to be approved early next year.

The European Parliament Civil Liberties committee voted 38-19 to approve the airline passenger information system, with two abstentions. It means that an endorsement in the plenary session in January or February is now a formality, ABC News reported on Thursday.

The lawmaker who chaperoned the plan through parliament, Timothy Kirkhope, said: "now we have to get this implemented."

The system has been held up in the assembly for more than two years but the deadly attacks last month in Paris brought new urgency to the process. The plan grants law enforcement agencies access to information about air travelers for at least six months.

Sources: MENA