BRUSSELS — After a wave of terrorist attacks in recent months, European Union lawmakers took a decisive step on Thursday in favor of bolstering security with the approval of a continentwide system to collect and share information on airline passengers.

The new measures are the latest sign that efforts in Europe to improve safety are trumping concerns over protecting privacy and civil liberties, as the region grapples with the fallout from several high-profile assaults on major cities. They follow a similar pattern to the changes seen in the United States in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The vote at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, was the culmination of five years of arguments about whether the latest measures threaten personal privacy. To take effect, the law requires the final approval of a majority of the European Union’s member governments, but that is expected to be a formality when interior ministers meet in Luxembourg on April 21.

“Europe today is demonstrating its ability to mobilize to ensure the safety of European citizens,” Manuel Valls, the prime minister of France and a leading supporter of the law, said in a statement on Thursday.