On Wednesday 24 February, the MEPs of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties broadly welcomed the proposals to revise the mandate of the police cooperation agency, Europol, that were presented in December (see EUROPE 12619/14).
They discussed the proposals with the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, who came to reassure them on certain points, notably the protection of personal data in the case of exchanges with non-Member States or private companies and the reform’s target group, as the Greens/EFA fear that asylum seekers will be targeted.
The reform proposals include giving the EU agency more flexibility to start an investigation even when the cross-border nature of a crime is not established. Europol will also be able to enter alerts on suspected terrorists directly into the Schengen Information System (SIS), based in particular on information received from non-Member States, without going through the Member States, which until now have been the only ones entitled to enter alerts into the SIS, the Commissioner explained.
The Commission wants Europol to be able to create its own categories of alerts, especially for foreign fighters, unless Member States intend to do it themselves or are opposed to it.
Europol may also receive information directly from private companies and will then have to identify the member country competent to carry out the investigation and communicate this information to it.
These avenues for reinforcement were well received, as they “were long overdue”, commented Spain’s Javier Zarzalejos (EPP), who will be rapporteur on the subject. Parliament will ensure that this new legislation is adopted as soon as possible. These tracks represent a “real step forward” for the agency, also commented Franco Roberti (S&D, Italy), shadow rapporteur.
However, doubts have arisen, in particular about cooperation with Eurojust, a judicial cooperation agency which some fear will be marginalised or even eventually abolished by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. The question of financial and human resources for Europol and these new missions was also raised.
Other Greens/EFA MEPs, such as Tineke Strik (Netherlands), have expressed concern that asylum seekers are the target of these new Europol alerts. A scenario that the Commissioner rejected, indicating that they are not the target group. Guarantees of protection of rights have in any case been made following an impact assessment of the proposals on fundamental rights, aimed at correcting and removing any alert on a person entering the Schengen area that turns out to be erroneous. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)