German airlines face being banned from landing in Britain unless they hand over their passenger lists in advance for security screening, senior Whitehall officials have confirmed.

Urgent talks are now underway between London and Berlin to pressure the German government to drop their data protection laws that prevent advanced passenger lists being provided on privacy grounds.

The move is part of preparations for the introduction later this month of a fresh package of counter-terrorism legislation designed to hit the flow of British and European jihadists travelling to Syria and Iraq, and to keep out foreign fighters trying to travel to Britain.

David Cameron made clear in September that alongside new powers to seize passports and exclude British nationals from the UK he also intended to put existing ‘no-fly lists’ to stop them coming to the UK in the first place on a statutory basis.

“Airlines will have to comply with our no-fly list arrangements, give us information on passenger lists and comply with our security screening requirements,” said the prime minister. “If they do not do so, their flights will not be able to land in Britain.”

The most senior Home Office official, Mark Sedwill, the department’s permanent secretary, confirmed on Wednesday that the threat applies to all EU airlines but particularly German flights: “We are looking in future legislation at taking mandatory powers. We are working with all the airlines. We have 90% of advanced passenger information,” he told the Commons public accounts committee.

But he disclosed that German airline flights are among the 10% of flights that currently arrive in Britain without providing advanced passenger information.

Sedwill told MPs that the issue was data protection legislation in some countries, and others in which it was possible to travel on identity cards rather than passports within the European Union. “We are in discussions, which for obvious reasons I have to keep somewhat private, with other EU countries to change their data protection legislation in order to require this data of the carrier.

“It is our intention to mandate carriers to provide that information and that legislation will also mandate that authority [to ban them from landing]. We are talking to relevant countries about their data protection legislation and the conflict between their legislation and ours in this matter.

He confirmed that German airlines are among those facing the ban after being asked repeatedly by Conservative MP Richard Bacon if this meant that German airlines would not be able to land in Britain if the ban went ahead.

The advance passenger lists do not just include names and travel plans but also personal details such as home address, credit card numbers and other data which enable security services to build up a profile of passengers they are interested in.

The US currently enforces a ban on airlines that refuse to provide advanced passenger lists on its transatlantic flights.

The issue of tackling foreign fighters is expected to be raised by home secretary Theresa May at a meeting of the inner G6 EU interior ministers from Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Britain, in Paris on Thursday.