With mixed feelings, I note that a European Parliament committee has recommended approving the latest PNR deal with the US. It’s a bit of a surprise, especially since the vote wasn’t especially close, and that makes it highly likely the Parliament will also approve the deal. That makes sense, this is a much better deal for the EU than the one I negotiated back in 2007, but I’ve gotten so used to the European Parliament taking self-defeatingly extreme stands on US-EU privacy issues, that this retreat to common sense is disorienting.