Cross-border cooperation to combat terrorism and cross-border crime # European Parliament legislative resolution of 22 April 2008 on the initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany with a view to the adoption of a Council Decision on the implementation of Decision 2008/…/JHA on the stepping up of cross-border cooperation, particularly in combating terrorism and cross-border crime (11563/2007 — 11045/1/2007 — C6-0409/2007 — 2007/0821(CNS))
Date: 2008-04-22
Institutions: Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, European Parliament
Subjects: European Data Protection Supervisor, cross-border cooperation, drafting of EU law, fight against crime, opinion (EU), terrorism








CE2009259EN.01011101.xml










29.10.2009   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CE 259/111





Cross-border cooperation to combat terrorism and cross-border crime *
P6_TA(2008)0128
European Parliament legislative resolution of 22 April 2008 on the initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany with a view to the adoption of a Council Decision on the implementation of Decision 2008/…/JHA on the stepping up of cross-border cooperation, particularly in combating terrorism and cross-border crime (11563/2007 — 11045/1/2007 — C6-0409/2007 — 2007/0821(CNS))
(2009/C 259 E/21)
(Consultation procedure)

The European Parliament,







—


having regard to the initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany (11563/2007 and 11045/1/2007),










—


having regard to Article 34(2)(c) of the EU Treaty,










—


having regard to Article 39(1) of the EU Treaty, pursuant to which the Council consulted Parliament (C6-0409/2007),










—


having regard to Rules 93 and 51, and Rule 41(4) of its Rules of Procedure,










—


having regard to the report of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (A6-0099/2008),




1.   Approves the initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany as amended;
2.   Calls on the Council to amend the text accordingly;
3.   Calls on the Council and the Commission, following the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, to give priority to any future proposal to amend the Decision in accordance with Declaration No 50 concerning Article 10 of the Protocol on transitional provisions to be annexed to the Treaty on European Union, to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community;
4.   Is determined to examine any such future proposal by urgent procedure in accordance with the procedure referred to in paragraph 3 and in close cooperation with national parliaments;
5.   Calls on the Council to notify Parliament if it intends to depart from the text approved by Parliament;
6.   Calls on the Council to consult Parliament again if it intends to amend the initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany substantially;
7.   Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council and the Commission, and the government of the Federal Republic of Germany.






TEXT PROPOSED BY THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY


AMENDMENT





Amendment 1


Initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany


Recital 3a (new)





 










(3a)





It is necessary for the Council to adopt the framework decision on certain procedural rights in criminal proceedings throughout the European Union as soon as possible in order to lay down certain minimum rules on the availability of legal assistance to individuals in the Member States.










Amendment 2


Initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany


Recital 3b (new)





 










(3b)





The data protection rules laid down in Decision 2008/…/JHA on the stepping up of cross-border cooperation, particularly in combating terrorism and cross-border crime, are to be created in the absence of an adequate third pillar legal instrument on data protection. When approved, that general legal instrument should be applied to the entire area of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, provided that its level of data protection is adequate and, in any event, no lower than the protection laid down in the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data of 28 January 1981 and the Additional Protocol thereto regarding supervisory authorities and transborder data flows of 8 November 2001.










Amendment 3


Initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany


Recital 3c (new)





 










(3c)





Special categories of data concerning racial or ethnic origin, political opinion, religious or philosophical belief, party or trade union membership, sexual orientation or health should be processed only if absolutely necessary and in proportion to the purpose of the specific case and in compliance with specific safeguards.










Amendment 4


Initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany


Recital 3d (new)





 










(3d)





With a view to efficient police cooperation, it should be possible to establish joint task forces rapidly and unbureaucratically.










Amendment 5


Initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany


Recital 4a (new)





 










(4a)





The measures provided for in this Decision are consistent with the opinion of the European Data Protection Supervisor of 19 December 2007.










Amendment 6


Initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany


Article 2 — point –a (new)





 










(–a)






‘personal data’ shall mean any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identification number or to one or more factors specific to his or her physical, physiological, mental, economic, cultural or social identity;











Amendment 11


Initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany


Article 2 — point e











(e)


‘non-coding part of DNA’
means
 chromosome 
regions not genetically expressed
, i.e. not known to provide 
for any functional properties of an organism
;












(e)


‘non-coding part of DNA’
shall mean
 chromosome 
zones containing no genetic expression
, i.e. not known to provide 
information about specific hereditary characteristics; notwithstanding any scientific progress, no more information shall be revealed from the non-coding part of DNA
;









Amendment 18


Initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany


Article 3a (new)





 


Article 3a
Requests regarding acquitted or discharged persons


In accordance with Chapters 3 and 4 of this Decision, reports that match the DNA profile or dactyloscopic data of persons who have been acquitted or discharged shall be exchanged only if the database is precisely circumscribed and the category of data subject to the inquiry is clearly defined by national law.







Amendment 19


Initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany


Article 8 — paragraph 1 — point a











(a)


the Member State code of the requesting Member State;












(a)


the Member State code of the requesting Member State 
and the code of the consulting national authority
;









Amendment 20


Initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany


Article 17 — paragraph 3 — subparagraph i











(i)


the powers the officers and other officials of the seconding Member State(s) may exercise in the host Member State during the operation;












(i)


the powers the officers and other officials of the seconding Member State(s) may exercise in the host Member State during the operation; 
those powers shall include, in particular, the rights of surveillance, hot pursuit, arrest and questioning;











Amendment 21


Initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany


Article 18 — paragraph 1





1.   Further details concerning the technical and administrative implementation of Decision 2007/…/JHA are set out in the Annex to this Decision. The Annex may be modified by the Council, acting by a qualified majority.


1.   Further details concerning the technical and administrative implementation of Decision 2008/…/JHA are set out in the Annex to this Decision. The Annex may be modified by the Council, acting by a qualified majority 
after consulting the European Parliament in accordance with Article 34(2)(c) and Article 39(1) of the Treaty on European Union
.





Amendment 22


Initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany


Article 20 — paragraph 1





1.   The Council shall take a decision referred to in Article 25(2) of Decision 2007/…/JHA on the basis of an evaluation report which shall be based on a questionnaire as set out in Chapter 4 of the Annex to this Decision.


1.   The Council shall take a decision referred to in Article 25(2) of Decision 2008/…/JHA on the basis of an evaluation report which shall be based on a questionnaire as set out in Chapter 4 of the Annex to this Decision. 
The independent data protection authorities of the Member State(s) concerned shall be fully involved in the evaluation procedure set out in Chapter 4 of the Annex to this Decision.







Amendment 23


Initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany


Article 21 — paragraph 1





1.   An evaluation of the administrative, technical and financial application of the data exchange pursuant to Chapter 2 of Decision 2007/…/JHA shall be carried out on an annual basis. The evaluation shall relate to those Member States already applying Decision 2007/…/JHA at the time of the evaluation and shall be carried out with respect to the data categories for which data exchange has started among the Member States concerned. The evaluation shall be based on reports of the respective Member States.


1.   An evaluation of the administrative, technical and financial application of the data exchange pursuant to Chapter 2 of Decision 2008/…/JHA shall be carried out on an annual basis. 
Such evaluation shall include an assessment of the consequences of differences in techniques and criteria for collecting and storing DNA data in the Members States. The evaluation shall also include an assessment of the results related to the proportionality and the effectiveness of the cross-border exchange of the various types of DNA data.
 The evaluation shall relate to those Member States already applying Decision 2008/…/JHA at the time of the evaluation and shall be carried out with respect to the data categories for which data exchange has started among the Member States concerned. The evaluation shall be based on reports of the respective Member States.





Amendment 24


Initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany


Article 21 — paragraph 2a (new)





 




2a.
   
The General Secretariat of the Council shall transmit to the European Parliament and the Commission on a regular basis the results of the evaluation of data exchange in the form of a report as referred to in Chapter 4, point 2.1 of the Annex to this Decision.







Amendment 25


Initiative of the Federal Republic of Germany


Addendum to the Initiative — Chapter 1 — point 1.1 — subparagraph 3





Inclusion Rule:
The DNA-profiles made available by the Member States for searching and comparison as well as the DNA-profiles sent out for searching and comparison must contain at least 6 loci and 
may
 contain 
other
 loci or blanks depending on their availability. The reference DNA profiles must contain at least 6 of the 7 ESS/ISSOL loci. In order to raise the accuracy of matches
, it is recommended that
 all available alleles be stored in the indexed DNA profile 
data pool
.


Inclusion Rule:
The DNA-profiles made available by the Member States for searching and comparison as well as the DNA-profiles sent out for searching and comparison must contain at least 6 loci and 
must
 contain 
additional
 loci or blanks depending on their availability. The reference DNA profiles must contain at least 6 of the 7 ESS/ISSOL loci. In order to raise the accuracy of matches, all available alleles 
shall
 be stored in the indexed DNA profile 
database and be used for searching and comparison. Each Member State shall implement, as soon as practicable, any new ESS of loci adopted by the EU
.