Brussels, 18/10/2005 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, Commissioner Frattini told national and European MPs (EUROPE 9050) of the need rapidly to develop legal cooperation in the EU, by facilitating exchange of information between the Member States. According to Franco Frattini, "we need to step up each Member State's right of access to the data of all the other States of the Union and remove obstacles to access to police and legal information". On the concrete measures taken within this field, the Commissioner reminded the parliamentarians that the Commission presented a framework-decision on exchanges of information to the ministers of the JHA Council on 12 October, in virtue of the principle of availability. Franco Frattini considers that the "exchange of information is at the heart of police cooperation, and improving this is the key to better cooperation". Despite the improvement in the quality of exchanges of information brought about by the Schengen Convention, and despite the objectives to create an area of liberty, security and justice, laid down by the Treaty of Amsterdam of 1997, the level of information exchanges remains, according to the Commission, well below what is felt to be needed to ensure adequate cooperation between the forces of order. Thanks to this framework-decision, several provisions will help to improve the level of these information exchanges: - the Member States will have to provide the police authorities of the other Member States and Europol with information to allow, facilitate or speed up the prevention or detection of criminal activities or investigations into criminal activities; - information available will be shared either via on-line access, or by transfer, in response to a request for information; - the type of information available which may be obtained includes DNA profiles, digital fingerprints, ballistics, information about vehicle registration plates, telephone numbers and other data relative to communications, and the names of people listed on the register of births, deaths and marriages. Commissioner Frattini stressed that other measures had been taken in order to fight effectively against terrorism and organised crime. These are, firstly, the proposed framework-decision on data protection (EUROPE 9041) and, secondly, the proposed directive on the protection of telecommunications data (EUROPE 9030). Franco Frattini also referred to the implementation of an "operational point", to help to step up the roles of Europol and Eurojust. The Commissioner is to meet the directors of Europol and Eurojust in the near future, in order to discuss this.