WRITTEN QUESTION E-3484/98

by Ernesto Caccavale (UPE) to the Commission

(25 November 1998)

Subject: Generalised system of immunity for Europol agents

The Europol Convention, which entered into force on 1 October 1998, establishes a new body responsible for cooperation between the police forces of the 15 Member States of the European Union in the area of the collection and analysis of information about crimes such as drug trafficking, money laundering, illegal immigration and terrorism. The agreement includes a Protocol on the privileges and immunities of Europol staff, which is a source of concern. Article 8 of the Protocol states that staff are to enjoy immunity from legal process of any kind in respect of words spoken or written, and of acts performed by them, in the exercise of their official functions and that this immunity is to continue after staff have ceased to be employed by Europol.

Can the Commission say:

- whether it considers that these provisions might constitute a threat to citizens' fundamental freedoms and rights, given that all decisions on exemptions and waiving the near-total immunity of staff are to be taken by Europol itself and its Director;

- whether the provisions of the Protocol, which also grant immunity from legal process in respect of the arrangements for collecting and processing data which may have been acquired by unauthorised means, are in danger of contravening the laws on privacy and data protection;

- and lastly, whether it regards concern about the lack of proper democratic scrutiny of this new organisation as justified, given that, in common with many other Community structures, it has been set up on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement and is therefore not likely to be subject to supervision by institutions such as Parliament.

Answer given by Mrs Gradin on behalf of the Commission

(21 January 1999)

Article 41 (1) of the Europol Convention states that the members of Europol's organs, its deputy directors and employees shall enjoy the privileges and immunities necessary for the performance of their tasks in accordance with a protocol setting out the rules to be applied in all Member States. Pursuant to paragraph 3 of the same Article, the protocol is to be drawn up by the Council by unanimous vote according to the procedure laid down in Title VI of the Treaty on European Union, and adopted by the Member States in accordance with their various constitutional provisions.

The Commission considers that neither the provisions of the protocol in general nor the provisions of Article 8 of the protocol constitute a threat to citizens' fundamental freedoms and rights. The practice of granting immunity from legal process to international and intergovernmental organisations is well established under international law. A wide range of international organisations has been granted such immunity. In this context, the most relevant example in the field of law enforcement is Interpol, which has also been granted similar immunity.

Furthermore, the Commission notes that the provisions of the protocol which grant immunity from legal process in respect of the arrangements for collecting and processing data are not in danger of contravening the laws on privacy and data protection. In this context, the Europol Convention provides in its Titles II to IV (Articles 7 to 25) very comprehensive provisions for the collection, storage, utilisation and processing of data and the establishment of data systems. According to Article 14 of the Europol Convention, each Member State had to take the necessary measures in relation to the processing of personal data in data files in the framework of the Europol Convention to ensure a standard of data protection which at least corresponds to the standard resulting from the implementation of the principles of the Council of Europe Convention of 28 January 1981, and, in doing so, taking account of Recommendation No R (87) 15 of the committee of ministers of the Council of Europe of 17 September 1987 concerning the use of personal data in the police sector. Europol has to take account in the same way of the two above-mentioned regulations in the collection, processing and utilisation of personal data. In addition to this, Article 24 of the Europol Convention provides for the joint supervisory body. This independent body has the task of reviewing the activities of Europol in order to ensure that the rights of the individual are not violated by the storage, processing and utilisation of the data held by Europol.

On the subject of democratic scrutiny of Europol the Commission recalls that in line with Article 34 of the Europol Convention, the Council Presidency shall each year forward a special report to the Parliament on the work of Europol.