The BBC reports that airlines flying to the US are now caught in a tricky situation. They could be fined by the EU for sharing passenger data. Yet they could also be fined or blocked from landing by the US for not sharing passeger data. This is due to a failure to rewrite a passenger data sharing agreement that was ruled illegal by the EU four months ago:

A European Commission spokesman said that a legal black hole could be created by the lack of agreement.

“There is no agreement. There is a legal vacuum as of midnight tonight,” EU Transport Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd said on Saturday.

The US, naturally, casually dismissed any negative language regarding their failure to reach a new agreement:

US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told Reuters news agency that there was “absolutely no basis” to say that discussions had broken down.

However, he was not quoted with regard to how the system will work now that it has been strictly forbidden by the EU courts. No alternatives have been found in the past four months, but the system was in place for years before the court struck it down:

Since 2003, US authorities have requested that airlines provide passengers’ personal data to American security officials, including credit card information and telephone numbers.

A total of 34 pieces of data must be transferred to authorities within 15 minutes of a flight’s departure for the US.