Strasbourg, 21/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - MEPs hope to improve the exchange of information contained in criminal records in all member states. Such is the objective of the consultation report by Agustín Díaz de Mera (EPP-ED, Spain), adopted on Thursday during the Strasbourg plenary session. It is becoming increasingly common for citizens to be sentenced outside their country of nationality. There is no common principle, however, with regard to the holding of criminal records, which come under exclusive national competence. As the rapporteur points out, the current system of information exchange between member states is not satisfactory and does not contribute to effective or correct cross-border usage. In the new proposal, the principle whereby member states centralise information on the sentencing of its own nationals has been kept as it is (principle of nationality). However, the information contained in criminal records may be requested by the central authority of another member state via a standardised European form. In order to speed up the procedure, time limits have been set: 10 working days for requests from a member state, and 20 days for requests coming from the individual concerned. The text makes it an obligation for member states to regularly, immediately or as soon as possible exchange information on sentencing or on later modifications that have brought about the amendment or withdrawal of information contained in the criminal record. MEPs also sought to make the transmission of information to a requesting member state more flexible (i.e. other than for nationality or sentencing). They introduced changes for the protection of personal data with a view to strengthening this chapter of the proposal and giving it content that is more consistent with the rules applicable. The JHA Council reached an agreement on the text last week (EUROPE 9446). (bc)