On Tuesday, EP and Council negotiating teams reached an agreement that allows Europol to propose Schengen Information System (SIS) alerts about third-country nationals.
The reform aims to bridge information-sharing gaps and strengthen Europol in the fight against organized crime and terrorism. To this end, the proposal would allow Europol to propose to member states alerts that should be added to SIS. The information behind the alerts could be sourced from third countries and international organisations.
The proposal foresees a new category of SIS alerts on third-country nationals “in the interest of the Union”, so that Europol and member states could share more information about the movements of foreign terrorist fighters that are not EU citizens. This way, the information would be available to front-line officers in the member states.
When transmitting an alert proposal, Europol would share with the member state all the information it holds on the case, except where it was obtained clearly in violation of human rights – a specification requested by the Parliament. Also, in the negotiations, the Parliament secured an obligation for Europol’s Data Protection Officer (DPO) to always be alerted about a proposed information alert.
Next steps
The agreement will now need to be confirmed by the Civil Liberties Committee, before an eventual plenary vote on final approval (currently scheduled for the May part-session).
In parallel, work continues on the other part of Europol mandate reform, where a trilogue agreement was reached in February.
Further information
- Procedure file
- Profile of the rapporteur Javier ZARZALEJOS (EPP, ES)
- European Parliament position before interinstitutional negotiations (15.10.2021)
- Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs