Today, the Council adopted a regulation on automated searches and data exchange for police cooperation. The new legislation will enhance the existing framework - often referred to as Prüm I - which already allows police authorities to consult other member states' national databases regarding DNA, fingerprints and vehicle registration data.
To effectively combat crime and new criminal threats, the Council adopted a recommendation on operational law enforcement cooperation. In addition, the Council adopted negotiating mandates for the directive on the exchange of information between member states' law enforcement agencies (Information Exchange Directive) and the regulation on automated data exchange for the purpose of police cooperation (Prüm II Regulation).
The purpose of the Prüm system is to facilitate the automated exchange of DNA profiles and fingerprint and vehicle registration data for the prevention, detection and investigation of crimes. It allows police forces and other competent authorities to consult national databases in other member states. They will then only be told whether there is a hit or not. They can then request the relevant data.
The Prüm II regulation extends this system to other types of data, such as facial images, criminal records of suspects and of convicted criminals, and driver's licenses.
The technical infrastructure for exchanging these data is also being modernized. Instead of numerous direct connections between national databases, there will be a central router connecting all databases. This will improve the performance and efficiency of the system and make it easier for agencies to access multiple databases.
In addition, Europol will be involved. The agency will be able to conduct searches and access its databases of biometric data from outside the EU.
This legislative proposal deals with the practicalities and procedures for the exchange of information between the law enforcement agencies of the Member States. The goal is an efficient exchange of information. Therefore, it should ensure that law enforcement agencies have the same access to information available in other Member States, and that the number of communication channels is limited. Europol should also be given a greater role as the EU's information center in this field.
Member states will have a central contact point for information exchange with other EU countries that is operational 24/7. For urgent matters, the requested information must be available within 8 hours if the information is already at the central contact point, and within 3 days if the contact point can obtain the information from public authorities or private parties. For all other requests, the information must be made available within 7 days.
In addition, a copy of each information request must be sent to Europol. However, there are some exceptions to this rule. Siena, Europol's Secure Information Exchange Network Application (Siena stands for Secure Information Exchange Network Application), is becoming the standard channel of communication.
Cross-border pursuits and surveillance and joint patrols and operations are essential forms of police cooperation. This prevents people from escaping the police by crossing the border.
The Council recommendation sets forth a number of standards for operational cooperation between police forces in different member states and for joint operations. The recommendation includes:
a set of principles for cross-border pursuits and observation
A list of offenses for which cross-border pursuit and observation should be allowed
a framework for joint operations
the establishment of a support platform for joint patrols and other joint operations, and recommendations on effective access to information and communication through secure channels
joint training and continuing education to create a European police culture
Once the European Parliament has adopted its position on the 2 legislative proposals, negotiations between the Council and Parliament will begin.
Terrorist groups and criminal organizations engage in a wide range of criminal activities, across borders. According to Europol's Serious and Organized Crime Threat Assessment 2021, more than 70% of criminal networks operate in more than 3 member states.
For the police to be effective against crime and emerging criminal threats, they must be able to cooperate systematically with partners across the EU and officers must have access to information from their counterparts in other member states.
A number of measures have been taken in this area in recent years, including making EU justice and home affairs databases interoperable and strengthening Europol's mandate. But more can be done. On Dec. 9, 2021, the European Commission tabled these legislative proposals as part of a package to improve police cooperation.
(1) https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-9502-2022-INIT/nl/pdf
(2) https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-9544-2022-INIT/x/pdf
(3) https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-8720-2022-INIT/nl/pdf
