24/11/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 24 November, MEPs adopted by 480 votes to 136 and 33 abstentions the report by Alexander Alvaro (ALDE, Germany), on the Council's proposal for a decision initiated by France on the use of information technology in the field of customs. In a concern for greater complementarity with action carried out at the level of cooperation with the European Police Office (Europol) and the European judicial cooperation unit (Eurojust), MEPs want to allow conditional communication of data from the customs information system to its agencies. In total, four amendments along the lines of greater restriction of data communication to the outside were adopted. Nonetheless, Marie-Christine Vergiat (GUE/NGL, France) deplored the EP's more timid approach to this text than to the Europol reports. She above all regretted that the EP does not fully play its role of guarantor of fundamental rights and freedoms. (B.C./transl.jl)