Proposal for a Regulation on establishing a framework for interoperability between EU information systems AND Proposal for a Regulation on establishing a framework for interoperability between EU information systems and amending other regulations

Following the recommendations of the high-level expert group on information systems and interoperability, the European Commission tabled, in December 2017, a proposal for a Regulation on establishing a framework for interoperability between EU information systems (police and judicial cooperation, asylum and migration). The primary objectives of the proposal are to:

ensure that end-users, particularly border guards, law enforcement officers, immigration officials and judicial authorities have fast, seamless, systematic and controlled access to the information that they need to perform their tasks;

provide a solution to detect multiple identities linked to the same set of biometric data, with the dual purpose of ensuring the correct identification of bona fide persons and combating identity fraud;

facilitate identity checks of third-country nationals, on the territory of a Member State, by police authorities; and

facilitate and streamline access by law enforcement authorities to non-law enforcement information systems at EU level, where necessary for the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of serious crime and terrorism.

Alongside an accompanying proposal on establishing a framework for interoperability between EU information systems (borders and visa), this interoperability proposal focuses on the EU information systems for security, border and migration management that are operated at the central level. Three of them already exist (Schengen Information System; Eurodac; Visa Information System); one is on the brink of development (Entry/Exit System), one as recently been agreed upon (European Travel Information and Authorisation System) and one is at the stage of negotiation between co-legislators (European Criminal Record Information System for third-country nationals). With the exception of Schengen Information System, these systems are exclusively focused on third-country nationals and are employed by national authorities in managing borders, migration, visa processing and asylum, and in fighting crime and terrorism. The latter applies in particular to the SIS II, which is the most widely used law enforcement information-sharing instrument today.

The proposal also includes in its scope Interpol’s Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database and Interpol's Travel Documents Associated with Notices (TDAWN) database. It also covers Europol data, as far as this is relevant for the functioning of the proposed ETIAS system and for assisting Member States when querying data on serious crime and terrorism. National information systems and decentralised EU information systems are outside the scope of this initiative.

In order to achieve the objectives of this proposal, four interoperability components are to be established:

- A European search portal that would provide a ‘one-stop shop’ on a computer screen when border guards or police officers are verifying identity documents. Rather than having to decide which database to check in a particular situation, officers will be able to simultaneously search multiple EU information systems.

- A shared biometric matching service that would enable the querying and comparison of biometric data (fingerprints and facial images) from several central systems (in particular, SIS, Eurodac, VIS, the future EES and the proposed ECRIS-TCN system).

- A common identity repository that would provide basic biographical and biometric information, such as names and dates of birth of non-EU citizens, so that they can be reliably identified.

- A multiple-identity detector that would help to establish that different names belong to the same identity and alert border guards and police cases of fraudulent or multiple identities.

Furthermore, the Commission proposed a two-step data consultation approach for law enforcement officers preventing, investigating, detecting or prosecuting terrorism or other serious crimes to access the information on third-country nationals they need stored in non-law enforcement systems. The approach clarifies that as a first step searches will be carried out on a ‘hit/no hit’ basis. As a second step, if a ‘hit’ is generated, law enforcement officers can request access to the information needed in line with the respective rules and safeguards.

Within the Council, the proposal has been under examination by the Working Party on Information Exchange and Data Protection since January 2018.

In the European Parliament, the file was assigned to the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) and the Rapporteur presented his draft report on 31 May 2018. The Committee on Budgets also published a draft opinion on 19 April 2018.

In light of the impact of the proposals on the right to private life and to the protection of personal data, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights published its opinion on the proposal in April 2018.

It must be noted that the Commission, on 13 June 2018, published an amended proposal, which seeks to amend the original proposal only insofar as it presents the further necessary amendments to other legal instruments that are required under the interoperability proposal.