Regulation (EU) 2024/982 on the automated search and exchange of data for police cooperation (the Prüm II Regulation)

What it is

to establish a framework for the exchange of information between authorities responsible for the prevention, detection and investigation of criminal offences (Prüm II). PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council. ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council. BACKGROUND: criminality across Europe undermines EU citizens’ security and well-being. Law enforcement authorities need robust and performant tools to fight crime effectively. Cooperation and information sharing are the most powerful means to combat crime and pursue justice. In 2021, more than 70% of organised crime groups were found to be present in more than three Member States. The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs adopted the report by Paulo RANGEL (EPP, PT) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on automated data exchange for police cooperation (“Prüm II”), amending Council Decisions 2008/615/JHA and 2008/616/JHA and Regulations (EU) 2018/1726, 2019/817 and 2019/818 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The committee responsible recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the proposal as follows: Members stressed that the Regulation should establish a framework for the exchange of information between Member States’ competent law enforcement authorities (Prüm II). Its purpose should be to step up cross-border cooperation particularly in combating terrorism and cross-border crime, by facilitating the exchange of information between Member States’ competent law enforcement authorities, in full respect for the fundamental rights of natural persons, including the right to respect for one’s private life, and for the protection of personal data, in accordance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The purpose of Prüm II should also be to allow for the search for missing persons and the identification of unidentified human remains by Member States’ competent law enforcement authorities in the context of a criminal investigation, provided that those authorities are empowered to conduct such searches and to carry out such identification under national law. A new article has been included stating that the Commission should adopt an implementing act to specify the identification characteristics of a DNA profile which is to be exchanged and the minimum requirements for a match, taking into account international and European standards. For the investigation of criminal offences, Member States should allow national contact points of other Member States and Europol access to the DNA reference data in their DNA databases established for that purpose in order to conduct automated searches of the DNA profiles in those databases and to compare those DNA profiles with their DNA profiles. The national contact point of the requesting Member State should ensure that a human review by a forensic expert is conducted in order to confirm a match of DNA profile data with DNA reference…

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