Council Act of 28 February 2002 amending the Council Act of 12 March 1999 adopting the rules governing the transmission of personal data by Europol to third States and third bodies
Date: 2002-02-28
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Europol, confidentiality, disclosure of information, personal data, third country

27.3.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 76/1

(Acts adopted under Title VI of the Treaty on European Union)

COUNCIL ACT

of 28 February 2002

amending the Council Act of 12 March 1999 adopting the rules governing the transmission of
personal data by Europol to third States and third bodies

(This text cancels and replaces the text published in OJ C 58 of 5 March 2002, p. 12)

(2002/C 76/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

1. the first subparagraph of Article 4 shall be replaced by the

following:

Having regard to the Convention on the establishment of a
European Police Office
and in
particular Article 18(2) thereof,

(Europol Convention (1),

Having regard to the initiative of the Kingdom of Sweden (2),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (3),

Having regard to the draft prepared by the Management Board
and the consultation of the Joint Supervisory Body referred to
in Article 24 of the Europol Convention,

Whereas:

(1) It is for the Council, acting unanimously, to adopt the
general
rules governing the transmission of data by
taking into
Europol
to third States or
account the circumstances referred to in Article 18(3) of
the Europol Convention.

third bodies,

(2) In the light of

the cooperation of Europol with third
bodies,
the possibility of onward transmission by third
bodies of personal data received from Europol will
contribute positively to the fight against organised crime.

(3) In order to safeguard the interests of the Member States
concerned and the principles of data protection, appro-
priate provisions need to be laid down determining the
conditions under which onward transmission may take
place.

(4) The Council Act of 12 March 1999 adopting the rules
governing the transmission of personal data by Europol
to third States and third bodies (4) should therefore be
amended accordingly,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1
The Council Act of 12 March 1999 is hereby amended as
follows:

(1) OJ C 316, 27.11.1995, p. 2.
(2) OJ C 163, 6.6.2001, p. 13.
(3) Opinion delivered on 13 November 2001 (not yet published in the

Official Journal).

(4) OJ C 88, 30.3.1999, p. 1.

‘The Director shall inform the Management Board and the
Joint Supervisory Body without undue delay of any decision
to transmit personal data pursuant to Article 2(1)(b) or to
allow onward transmission of personal data pursuant to
point (b) of the second subparagraph of Article 5(5), and
of the reasons for that decision.’;

2. the following subparagraphs shall be added to Article 5(5):

‘However, onward transmission by a third body with which
Europol has concluded an agreement in accordance with
Article 3 may take place

(a) with the prior consent of Europol, in cases where the
third State or body receiving the data has concluded an
agreement with Europol on the transmission of personal
data which covers data from onward transmission; or

(b) exceptionally, after authorisation by the Director of
Europol
the conditions laid down in
if he considers onward transmission of
Article 2(2),
the data by the third body to be absolutely necessary:

taking account

— to safeguard the essential

interests of the Member
States concerned within the scope of Europol's
objectives,

— in the interests of preventing imminent danger

associated with crime.

No onward transmission of data communicated to Europol
by a Member State shall be allowed without the consent of
the Member State concerned.

C 76/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

27.3.2002

The Director shall state the reasons for transmission via a
third body rather than direct transmission.’;

Article 2

This Act shall take effect on 1 March 2002.

3. the following Article shall be inserted:

Article 3

‘Article 8a

Evaluation

As from 1 January 2004, these rules shall be evaluated
under the supervision of the Management Board, which
shall obtain the opinion of the Joint Supervisory Body.’.

This Act shall be published in the Official Journal of the European
Communities.

Done at Brussels on 28 February 2002.

For the Council
The President

A. ACEBES PANIAGUA