EU's Tusk to push for airline data sharing

Riga - European Council president Donald Tusk will press EU lawmakers next week to drop their objections to states sharing airline passenger data as part of efforts to tighten security after the attack on Paris newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

Speaking in Latvia on Friday, the former Polish prime minister who now chairs meetings of EU leaders, said he had discussed the response to the attack with French President Francois Hollande and would put the matter on the agenda of the next scheduled summit in Brussels on February 12.

"Next week in Strasbourg I will appeal to the European Parliament to speed up work on the EU Passenger Name Record system, which can help in detecting the travel of dangerous people," Tusk said.

Lawmakers have resisted endorsing the system for sharing data known as PNR on the grounds it will infringe on privacy.

Tusk said of the killing of 12 people in Paris on Wednesday: "Such dramatic events demonstrate the vulnerability of nations in today's world. The European Union cannot do everything - but it can contribute to strengthening our security. In reaction to 9/11, the EU developed the European Arrest Warrant.

"But we need to do more."