Council Regulation (EC) No 407/2002 of 28 February 2002 laying down certain rules to implement Regulation (EC) No 2725/2000 concerning the establishment of "Eurodac" for the comparison of fingerprints for the effective application of the Dublin Convention
Date: 2002-02-28
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: data collection, data transmission, database, electronic mail, information analysis, personal data

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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I

(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 407/2002

of 28 February 2002

laying down certain rules to implement Regulation (EC) No 2725/2000 concerning the establish-
ment of ‘Eurodac’ for the comparison of fingerprints for the effective application of the Dublin
Convention

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Article 2

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2725/2000 of 11
December 2000 concerning the establishment of ‘Eurodac’ for
the comparison of fingerprints for the effective application of
the Dublin Convention (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Eurodac
Regulation’) (1), and in particular Article 22(1) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

Article 22(1) of the Eurodac Regulation provides for the
Council to adopt the implementing provisions necessary
for laying down the procedure referred to in Article 4(7),
the procedure for the blocking of data referred to in
Article 12(1) and for drawing up the statistics referred to
in Article 12(2) of the Eurodac Regulation.

Denmark, in accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of the
Protocol on the position of Denmark annexed to the
Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty establishing
the European Community,
is not participating in the
adoption of
this Regulation and is therefore neither
bound by it nor subject to its application,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation:

(a) ‘Central Unit’ shall mean the unit referred to in Article

1(2)(a) of the Eurodac Regulation;

(b) ‘database’ shall mean the computerised central database
referred to in Article 1(2)(b) of the Eurodac Regulation;

(c) ‘comparison’ shall mean the procedure of checking whether
fingerprint data recorded in the database match those trans-
mitted by a Member State.

(1) OJ L 316, 15.12.2000, p. 1.

Transmission

1.
Fingerprints shall be digitally processed and transmitted
in the data format referred to in Annex I. As far as it is
necessary for the efficient operation of the Central Unit, the
Central Unit shall establish the technical requirements for
transmission of
the data format by Member States to the
Central Unit and vice versa. The Central Unit shall ensure that
the fingerprint data transmitted by the Member States can be
compared by the computerised fingerprint recognition system.

2. Member States should transmit the data referred to in
Article 5(1) of the Eurodac Regulation electronically. As far as
it is necessary for the efficient operation of the Central Unit,
the Central Unit shall establish the technical requirements to
ensure that data can be properly electronically transmitted
from the Member States to the Central Unit and vice versa.
Transmission of data in paper form using the form set out in
Annex II or by other means of data support
(diskettes,
CD-ROM or other means of data support which may be devel-
oped and generally used in future) should be limited to situa-
tions in which there are continuous technical problems.

The reference number referred to in Article 5(1)(d) of the
3.
Eurodac Regulation shall make it possible to relate data unam-
biguously to one particular person and to the Member State
which is transmitting the data. In addition,
it shall make it
possible to tell whether such data relate to an asylum seeker or
a person referred to in Article 8 or Article 11 of the Eurodac
Regulation. The reference number shall begin with the identifi-
cation letter or letters by which, in accordance with the norm
referred to in Annex I, the Member State transmitting the data
is identified. The identification letter or letters shall be followed
by the identification of the category of person. ‘1’ refers to data
relating to asylum seekers, ‘2’ to persons referred to in Article 8
of the Eurodac Regulation and ‘3’ to persons referred to in
Article 11 of the Eurodac Regulation. The Central Unit shall
establish the technical procedures necessary for Member States
to ensure receipt of unambiguous data by the Central Unit.

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The Central Unit shall confirm receipt of the transmitted
4.
data as soon as possible. To this end the Central Unit shall
establish the necessary technical requirements to ensure that
Member States receive the confirmation receipt if requested.

the Council of 12 July 1999 on a series of guidelines, including
the identification of projects of common interest, for trans-
European networks for the electronic interchange of data
between administrations (IDA) (1). As far as it is necessary for
the efficient operation of the Central Unit, the Central Unit
shall establish the technical procedures necessary for the use of
IDA generic services.

Article 3

Carrying out comparisons and transmitting results

1. Member States shall ensure the transmission of finger-
print data in an appropriate quality for the purpose of compar-
ison by means of the computerised fingerprint recognition
system. As far as it is necessary to ensure that the results of the
comparison by the Central Unit reach a very high level of
accuracy, the Central Unit shall define the appropriate quality
of transmitted fingerprint data. The Central Unit shall, as soon
as possible, check the quality of the fingerprint data trans-
mitted. If fingerprint data do not lend themselves to compar-
ison using the computerised fingerprint recognition system, the
Central Unit shall, as soon as possible, request the Member
State to transmit fingerprint data of the appropriate quality.

2.
The Central Unit shall carry out comparisons in the order
of arrival of requests. Each request must be dealt with within
24 hours. In the case of data which are transmitted electroni-
cally, a Member State may for reasons connected with national
law require particularly urgent comparisons to be carried out
within one hour. Where these times cannot be respected owing
to circumstances which are outside the Central Unit's responsi-
bility, the Central Unit shall process the request as a matter of
priority as soon as those circumstances no longer prevail. In
such cases, as far as it is necessary for the efficient operation of
the Central Unit, the Central Unit shall establish criteria to
ensure the priority handling of requests.

As far as it is necessary for the efficient operation of the
3.
Central Unit, the Central Unit shall establish the operational
procedures for the processing of the data received and for
transmitting the result of the comparison.

Article 4

Communication between Member States and the Central
Unit

Data transmitted from the Member States to the Central Unit
and vice versa shall use IDA generic services referred to in
Decision No 1719/1999/EC of the European Parliament and of

Article 5

Other tasks of the Central Unit

1.
The Central Unit shall separate the data on asylum appli-
cants and the data on persons referred to in Article 8 of the
Eurodac Regulation which are stored in the database, by appro-
priate technical means.

On the basis of a communication from a Member State,
2.
the Central Unit shall give an appropriate distinguishing mark
to data on persons who have been recognised and admitted as
refugees and shall separate them, by appropriate technical
means, from other data recorded in the database. If a decision
has been taken in accordance with Article 12(2)(a) of the
Eurodac Regulation, the first sentence shall no longer apply.
The Central Unit shall remove the existing distinguishing marks
and cancel separation of the data.

3.
Four years and six months after Eurodac begins its activi-
ties, the Central Unit shall draw up statistics in order to indi-
cate:

(a) the number of persons who, having been recognised and
admitted as refugees in a Member State, have lodged a
further application for asylum in another Member State;

(b) the number of persons who have been recognised and
admitted as refugees in more than one Member State;

(c) the Member States in which the refugees have lodged a

further application for asylum, with:

— per Member State, the number of applicants for asylum
who, having the status of refugee in that State, have
applied for asylum in another Member State, and the
number of such persons for each of the latter Member
States,

— per Member State, the number of applicants for asylum
who already have the status of refugee in another
Member State, and the number of such persons for each
of the latter Member States.

The Central Unit shall ensure that, pursuant to Article
4.
4(4) of the Eurodac Regulation, comparisons carried out at the
request of a Member State can also cover the data transmitted
by that particular Member State at an earlier time.

(1) OJ L 203, 3.8.1999, p. 1.

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Article 6

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European

1.
Communities.

The Council shall review application of this Regulation within four years following the start of

2.
Eurodac's activities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in the Member States in
accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community.

Done at Brussels, 28 February 2002.

For the Council

The President

A. ACEBES PANIAGUA

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ANNEX I

Data format for the exchange of fingerprint data

The following format is prescribed for the exchange of fingerprint data:

ANSI/NIST — CSL 1 1993

and any future further developments of this standard.

Norm for Member State identification letters

The following ISO norm will apply:

ISO 3166 — 2 letters code.

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ANNEX II