On Wednesday 22 July, the Ambassadors of the Member States to the European Union (Coreper) adopted without discussion the decision to continue to allow the United Kingdom, during the transitional period, to benefit from the automatic exchange of DNA data and fingerprints under the so-called Prüm Decision. This decision will be confirmed by a written procedure begun on the same day.
The United Kingdom has updated its provisions and now shares its data with Member States on suspects, not just convicted persons, as notified to the EU on 19 June. The EU Council wanted to authorise the continuation of exchanges under the Prüm decision on the condition that data about suspects would also be included.
In May, the European Parliament rejected the continuation of these automated data exchanges because of a lack of adequate protection for the data in question (see EUROPE 12483/18).
Its opinion is not binding, and the EU Council, as explained in a note of 10 July, will not consult Parliament again. However, the EU Council and Parliament agree that, without an agreement on the future relationship with London and without new provisions on Prüm and on data protection, these transfers will stop at the end of the transition, i.e. on 1 January 2021. Link to the EU Council decision: https://bit.ly/2OLT0Xh (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)