Today's ruling by the European Court of Justice to bar airlines operating from Europe to the United States from disclosing their passenger lists to the Department of Homeland Security may mean that we'll have fewer snooty French tourists to deal with.

Europe's highest court struck down an anti-terrorism agreement that allows the European Union and the U.S. to share information on airline passengers, giving authorities four months to resolve conflicting rules.

The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg today said the 2004 accord was illegally adopted, upholding a challenge by European Parliament lawmakers. Authorities have until Sept. 30 to come up with new regulations, the court said.

Today's ruling may mean that carriers such as Air France-KLM Group, Europe's biggest airline, and Deutsche Lufthansa AG will have to choose between violating EU or U.S. law, facing fines on both sides of the Atlantic, according to Eduardo Ustaran, a lawyer specializing in information technology. The European Parliament had argued the rules violated EU protections on personal data.

Well, we certainly wouldn't want to "invade" anyone's privacy. Besides, we've got plenty of skyscrapers left.

I'm sure this will all get worked out (read: they'll find some way to get us the passenger lists), but you see the sort of foolishness you get from unelected, unaccountable judges -- and some members of our Supreme Court insist on "learning" from this idiocy?