The Austrian Presidency of the Council has got off to a flying start on the proposal to introduce the centralised information system on the criminal records of people from non-EU countries (ECRIS-TCN).
In a memo dated 10 July that this newsletter has seen, Vienna restates its ambition to reach agreement with Parliament ‘as soon as possible, preferably by the end of September 2018.’ (see EUROPE 12059).
The memo mentions a number of bilateral meetings with member states, which had taken place ‘a very positive spirit’ on 3 and 4 July on the final stumbling blocks, namely EU nationals who also hold the nationality of a non-EU member state (doubles nationals) and digital fingerprints.
In total, some five solutions are reported to have been presented to the member states, including the last Bulgarian compromise, which hadn’t received the necessary support from member states’ ambassadors to the EU (see EUROPE 12042).
According to the document, it was in the end option D, which keeps the inclusion of double nationals in the 'ECRIS-TCN' system, which was the one favoured by most delegations.
In terms of fingerprints, the system would only indicate whether they are ‘available’ and a further stage would be needed because a request would have to be made to the member state that holds the fingerprints.
This option would be supplemented by ‘facility of access’ introduced in a new Article 7 (1b) which allows in the event of ‘doubt’ – when EU national who also has the nationality of a non-EU country only presents himself with his European nationality – for the competent authorities to be able to query the ‘ECRIS-TCN’ seem to verify whether another member state holds information about this person’s criminal record as a third country national.
While this solution has not yet been discussed with the Parliament, the presidency says it largely meets the concerns raised about discrimination between European citizens and double nationals (see EUROPE 12011).
Converting ‘ECRIS-TCN’ into ‘ECRIS4ALL’
Another, ‘original’ option, to say the least, has been put on the table – converting the ‘ECRIS-TCN’ system into ‘ECRIS4ALL’ (option E).
In practice, this option includes in a single database the data from ‘ECRIS’ and ‘ECRIS-TCN,’ which would then include information about the identity of anyone convicted in the EU, whether EU citizens, non-EU citizens or people with double nationality (EU and non-EU or two EU nationalities).
Here too, it was felt that this solution would be able to meet the concerns expressed by Parliament about discrimination, but the option is said to have met with a ‘mixed response’ during the bilateral meetings.
The Austrian Presidency itself is of the opinion that 'ECRIS4ALL’ would not be a desirable solution in the short-term because the Commission would then have to come up with a new legislative proposal, which would considerably delay the procedure.
However, looking to the future, it nevertheless wishes to sound out the member states about the possibility of inserting into the minutes of the Council sitting in which the regulation is definitively adopted a statement inviting the Commission to envisage presenting a new legislative proposal to turn ‘ECRIS-TCN’ into ‘ECRIS4ALL’.
A new bilateral meeting between the presidency and some member states is due to take place on 18 July. The next interinstitutional trialogue meeting has been set for 5 September. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)