05/02/2019 (Agence Europe) – As negotiators expected (see EUROPE 12186), the European Parliament and the Council reached an agreement on Tuesday morning, 5 February, regarding new rules on the interoperability of European information systems, which should allow law enforcement officials to have faster access to the data contained in these various databases via a simultaneous search. The Romanian Presidency of the Council and representatives of the Parliament reached preliminary agreement on the two draft regulations establishing this framework for the interoperability of information systems (on migration and asylum and on visas and border crossings) – the last knots (including the system’s entry into force) having been removed in recent weeks. The agreement will be presented to the ambassadors for confirmation, but the date is not yet known. The European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties is planning to vote on this agreement around 18 February. (SP)