EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 33/106

(2004/C 33 E/107)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1344/03

by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(3 April 2003)

Subject: Eurodac and data protection

The Eurodac system of fingerprinting which was agreed by the European Union two years ago has finally been introduced as part of an attempt to ensure that those claiming asylum in one EU Member State do not, having gained entry to the Union, subsequently ‘shop around’ for asylum status in other Member States.

There are reports, however, that the information contained on the Eurodac files will not be available to the police forces of Member States but only to the immigration authorities under certain conditions because of the EU Data Protection laws. Are these reports correct, and, if so, which provisions specifically exclude information on non-EU citizens from being passed to national police forces?

Finally, if the police needed information on the identity or movement of suspected terrorists is it correct that the Eurodac information would be denied to them, and, if so, how is that consistent with the need to protect our citizens, the fight against terrorism or our international obligations to fight terrorism?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(4 June 2003)

As the Honourable Member is aware, the Eurodac system for comparing the fingerprints of asylum applicants was set up by Council Regulation (EC) No 2725/2000 of 11 December 2000 (1) for the sole purpose of enabling the Dublin Convention to be efficiently applied (2).

Article 1 of the Regulation states:

Paragraph 1:

A system known as ‘Eurodac’ is hereby established, the purpose of which shall be to assist in determining which Member State is to be responsible pursuant to the Dublin Convention for examining an application for asylum lodged in a Member State, and otherwise to facilitate the application of the Dublin Convention.

Paragraph 3:

Without prejudice to the use of data intended for Eurodac by the Member State of origin in databases set up under the latter's national law, fingerprint data and other personal data may be processed in Eurodac only for the purposes set out in Article 15(1) of the Dublin Convention.

The authorised objectives listed exhaustively in Article 15(1) of the Dublin Convention are as follows:

— determining the Member State which is responsible for examining the application for asylum,

— examining the application for asylum,

— implementing any obligation arising under this Convention.

These objectives are incorporated unamended in Article 21(1) of Council Regulation No (EC) 343/2003 of 18 February 2003 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national (3), which replaces the Dublin Convention.

Consequently, even if a police force were the authority within a given Member State responsible for performing one of the above tasks, the data in its possession could not be processed in Eurodac for purposes of police investigation.

The legislation currently in force would have to be amended to allow Eurodac to be used for other purposes while maintaining the necessary balance between public security requirements and the protection of freedoms.

(1) OJ L 316, 15.12.2000.

(2) OJ C 254, 19.8.1997.

(3) OJ L 50, 25.2.2003.