WRITTEN QUESTION E-2668/98

by Gerhard Hager (NI) to the Council

(1 September 1998)

Subject: Extension of the Eurodac Convention

The Justice and Home Affairs Council has already held detailed discussions on the Eurodac Convention which seeks to introduce a computer-assisted system for the exchange of fingerprints of asylum-seekers in implementation of the Dublin Convention on Asylum. This prompts the following questions:

What form do the envisaged data protection provisions take?

For what period of time are the data to be stored?

According to reports, the scope of this measure is to be extended to include illegal immigrants as well by means of a protocol which is due to be adopted during the current presidency.

How far have the negotiations on this issue progressed? Are there objections to such an extension?

How is it intended to define the term "illegal immigrants"?

Reply

(16 November 1998)

1. The Council first wishes to point out that discussions on the draft Eurodac Convention are still in progress.

It would also point out that the European Parliament was consulted (in a letter from the Presidency dated 6 October 1997) on the draft Eurodac Convention and that it forwarded to the Council the Opinion it adopted on 15 January 1998.

The measures relating to the protection of data and to the time limit for storage already appeared in the document submitted to the European Parliament for consultation. The Honourable Member will nevertheless find a summary of them below:

A. Provisions guaranteeing the protection of data

The draft Eurodac Convention contains several provisions on this, concerning in particular:

- the responsibility of the Member State of origin and the central unit as regards the use of data and the measures to be taken to ensure their security;

- the right of persons with regard to data concerning them which are recorded in the Eurodac system (access, correction in the event of errors, erasure in the event of unlawful recording);

- monitoring by an independent national supervisory authority of compliance by the Member State concerned with its data protection obligations;

- finally, monitoring by a joint supervisory authority of the central unit's compliance with its data protection obligations.

B. Time limit for storage of data

The draft Convention provides that data will be kept in the central database for a period of ten years. They will be erased earlier where the person acquires the nationality of a Member State.

Data on asylum-seekers who have obtained in a Member State the status of refugee within the meaning of the Geneva Convention will be "blocked" (in the sense that they will be separated from the rest of the data and comparison results will not be forwarded to the Member States) in the central database during the first five years of Eurodac's activities. At the end of this period, the Council will decide, on the basis of statistics established by the central unit, whether or not it is advisable to erase data relating to recognised refugees.

2. As regards the extension of the Eurodac system to include fingerprints of illegal immigrants, the Justice and Home Affairs Council, concluded at its meeting on 28 and 29 May 1998 that:

- a protocol for this purpose would be drawn up for adoption by the end of 1998;

- Member States would take appropriate steps to ensure that the national procedures for adopting the Eurodac Convention and any protocols were completed simultaneously at the earliest opportunity.

Discussions on extension are continuing while a draft protocol is being prepared containing a definition of "illegal immigrants" for the purpose of implementing the Eurodac Convention.