Luxembourg, 21/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - Moving towards the eventual creation of a single interface to allow the law enforcement authorities to have easier access to the data contained in various European databases, such as Eurodac and the Schengen Information System (SIS), reinforcing the exchange of information and feeding more into the European police databases.
These questions once again dominated the debates of the home affairs ministers, in Luxembourg on Thursday 21 April, on security in the EU and the next steps following the series of attacks carried out in Europe, the most recent one, in Brussels on 22 March, leaving 32 people dead. These debates also came as part of the follow-up to the extraordinary meeting of the home affairs ministers of 24 March, which stressed the need for the member states to keep feeding into the existing databases and to share the most relevant elements with each other.
Ultimately, the ministers hope to make progress before the June Council on the interconnection of data files on such matters as terrorism and borders and the interoperability of the systems. The Commission hopes in particular that this future interface will be developed “as soon as possible”, Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos explained at an interim press conference. The idea would be to allow authorities with authorisation to do so to have faster access to the data held in various European databases, without having to go through a succession of steps in order to do so.
Still vague in concept, this interface will not be without its legal and technical issues, for instance regarding protection guarantees for personal data and which authorities will be allowed to access specific kinds of data. These are the concerns the ministers are looking into, commented the Dutch Minister for security and justice, Ard Van der Steur.
On Thursday morning, the Twenty-Eight also given the opportunity to discuss proposals of the European Commission on 'smart borders' (see EUROPE 11526), which create an entry/exit system for third-country travellers, a package which went down very well with the ministers, with the aim of the Presidency and the Commission being to push for an agreement before the end of 2016 or “even earlier, if possible”, the Dutch Minister said.
Feeding into Europol still inadequate
The home affairs ministers, some of whom met on the sidelines of the Council in the morning, by request of the Belgian home affairs minister, Jan Jambon, in a smaller group to discuss the issue of sharing information in greater depth, also discussed a new note from the European Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, Gilles de Kerchove.
In this note, the Belgian official flags up the persistent weaknesses in the provision of data to Europol. Amongst other things, the Coordinator observes that on 16 April, the Europol system, which is supposed to be the focal point for foreign combatants, had 2956 verified entries of persons, whilst the European Information System (EIS) had 1615 entries submitted by the member states. However, the Coordinator points out, credible intelligence puts the number of Europeans who have travelled to Syria or Iraq to join the group Islamic State at 5000.
The Coordinator also writes that in 2015, 90% of the information provided on these foreign combatants still came from just five member states, but did not specify which.
When asked about the effectiveness of the European fight against terrorism, Commissioner Avramopoulos said that the EU was better prepared and had made “enormous progress”. The member states have, he explained, fully understood the importance of reinforcing their action, for instance by making full use of the existing instruments or by creating new ones. The Dutch Minister stressed the contribution of the new European Counter Terrorism Centre, which has been up and running since January, and the value added by the directives on the European PNR and on the prevention of terrorism, which also strengthen the EU's response. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)