Proposal for a Directive on information exchange between law enforcement authorities of Member States, repealing Council Framework Decision 2006/960/JHA

Summary:

Legislative initiative tabled by the European Commission on 8 December 2021, aimed at improving information exchange between law enforcement authorities of Member States.

Further information:

The EU Security Union Strategy, the latest Counter-Terrorism Agenda, and the EU Strategy to tackle Organised Crime 2021-2025 highlight transnational threats and call for a coordinated, more targeted and adapted response. While national authorities operate on the ground, action at EU level and via global partnerships are deemed essential to ensure effective cooperation as well as knowledge exchange among national authorities, supported by a common criminal law framework and effective financial means. Organised crime and terrorism are a clear example of the link between internal and external security - these threats spread across borders.

In an area without internal border controls, police officers in one Member State of the European Union (EU) should have equivalent access to the information available to their colleagues in another Member State (subject to the same conditions). They should cooperate effectively and by default. Therefore, the overall objective of this draft law is to legislate on organisational and procedural aspects of information exchange between law enforcement authorities in the EU. It aims to update and replace Council Framework Decision 2006/960/JHA. It addresses the following problems:

• Lack of clear and robust common rules on information exchange;
• Lack of common structures and efficient management tools for exchanging information;
• Lack of common practice in the use of existing communication channel(s) to exchange information within the EU.

The draft law was adopted by the European Commission on 8 December 2021 as part of a legislative package supporting a Police Cooperation Code. The Council of the European Union adopted a general approach on 10 June 2022. The European Parliament's relevant committee adopted a negotiating position on October 2022. An informal agreement between the co-legislators on a compromise text for this file was reached on 29 November.

• Primary Source

News

Euronews, 08/12/2021: Brussels wants more cooperation between EU police forces to combat organised crime https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2021/12/08/brussels-wants-more-cooperation-between-eu-police-forces-to-combat-organised-crime

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Official

EUR-LEX: SWD(2021)374: Staff Working Document accompanying the Proposal - Impact Assessment Report https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=SWD:2021:374:FIN

EUR-LEX: SWD(2021)375: Staff Working Document accompanying the Proposal - Executive Summary of the Impact Assessment Report https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=SWD:2021:375:FIN

European Parliament: Legislative Observatory: Procedure File for Proposal on Law enforcement information exchange (2021/0411(COD)) https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?lang=en&reference=2021/0411(COD)

European Parliament: Legislative Train Schedule: Directive on information exchange between law enforcement authorities of Member States https://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/theme-promoting-our-european-way-of-life/file-directive-on-law-enforcement-information-exchange

European Commission: DG Migration and Home Affairs: Information exchange https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/law-enforcement-cooperation/information-exchange_en

EU EUROPOL: Operations, Services & Innovation: Information Exchange https://www.europol.europa.eu/operations-services-and-innovation/services-support/information-exchange

European Commission: Press Release, 08/12/2021: Police Cooperation Code: Boosting police cooperation across borders for enhanced security https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_6645

European Commission: Police Cooperation Code: Questions and Answers (8 December 2021) https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_21_6646

Council of the European Union: Press Release, 10/06/2022: Council adopts two general approaches and a recommendation to improve operational police cooperation and information exchange https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/06/10/council-adopts-recommendation-two-negotiating-mandates-improve-operational-police-cooperation-information-exchange/

Council of the European Union: Press Release, 29/11/2022: Police cooperation: Council Presidency and European Parliament agree on a directive to improve information exchange between law enforcement authorities https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/11/29/police-cooperation-council-presidency-and-european-parliament-agree-on-a-directive-to-improve-information-exchange-between-law-enforcement-authorities/

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