In a document that it intends to adopt on Wednesday 8 May at the meeting of the Working Party on Information Exchange and Data Protection (DAPIX), the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU wants to lay the foundations for future discussions on the automation of information exchanges between EU police forces.
“The intention is to put the topic into perspective in relation to an ever-growing and complex information exchange landscape, which has seen a political shift towards increased automation”, explained the Presidency in a draft text dated 16 April.
From the replies received to a questionnaire sent to Member States, the Presidency has deduced that, overall, automation is seen as a solution to relieve, to a greater or lesser extent, the increasing stress on human, financial and technical resources.
However, it notes that implementing the IT infrastructure needed would, in the short term, increase the workload on the technical side and would only decrease the workload on the end users' side in the long term.
In general, Member States do not see any legal constraints on the provision of police registers, other than criminal records in an indexed or automated form, provided that the relevant data protection rules are adhered to, the document stresses.
However, despite the positive technical assessment, the document indicates that internal political discussion processes on automation would have to be launched in some Member States. The main policy issue remains as to whether or not to give foreign authorities direct access to indexed national databases.
A move towards a European Police Records Index System?
In its 2016 Communication 'More robust and intelligent information systems for borders and security', the European Commission indicated that it would assess the “usefulness, technical feasibility and proportionality” of a European Police Records Index System (EPRIS), designed to facilitate cross-border access to information stored within national law enforcement databases.
Within this context, a pilot project on the Automation of Data Exchange Processes (ADEP) has been launched to create a technical system to determine, by means of an index, whether an individual is the subject of an entry in police registers, or the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation in one or more Member States.
The pilot project, which was led by France, was funded by the European Commission to the tune of €1.5 million over the period from 1 July 2017 to 31 December 2018. Germany, Finland, Germany, Ireland and Spain also participated in this pilot project in addition to France, as did Europol. Hungary, Belgium and Austria were involved in an observer role.
The automated response to an index search would only indicate whether data is available (a match) or not (a mismatch). Additional personal data should be requested as part of a second stage and in the event of a match, through the usual channels of police cooperation. The system would use the existing Europol infrastructure.
The French and German delegations submitted an evaluation report on the pilot project to the Commission at the end of February. The document by the Romanian Presidency indicates that at a meeting on 21 February, the Commission acknowledged the positive results that came out of the pilot project and expressed its intention to carry out a follow-up feasibility study and, if necessary, the fact that it would consider drawing up a legislative proposal on EPRIS. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)