REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL concerning the exchange through the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) of information extracted from criminal records between the Member States
Date: 2026-06-19
Institutions: Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, EU police cooperation, criminal record, data transmission, exchange of information, information system, judicial cooperation in criminal matters in the EU, statistics

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 19.6.2026  COM(2026) 284 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL concerning the exchange through the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) of information extracted from criminal records between the Member States {SWD(2026) 152 final}  
 
 
1. Introduction 

The  purpose  of  the  European  Criminal  Records  Information  System  (ECRIS)  is  to  improve 
security  within  the  EU  Area  of  Freedom,  Security  and  Justice,  by  enabling  an  efficient 
exchange between the Member States of information on previous criminal convictions handed 
down by criminal courts in the EU. ECRIS became operational in April 2012. It is regulated 
by Council Framework Decision 2009/315/JHA of 26 February 2009 on the organisation and 
content of the exchange of information extracted from the criminal record between Member 
States.1  Council  Decision  2009/316/JHA  of  6 April 2009  on  the  establishment  of  the 
European  Criminal  Records  Information  System  was  replaced  by  Directive  (EU)  2019/884, 
but it is still binding for Denmark and Ireland.2   

second  Statistical  Report, 

On  29 June 2017  the  Commission  adopted  its  first  Statistical  Report  in  accordance  with 
Article 7 of Council  Decision 2009/316/JHA, which covered the period  from  April 2012 to 
31 December 2016.3  The  Commission’s 
adopted  on 
21 December 2020, covered the period from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2019.4 
The present report5 is the third Statistical Report of the Commission concerning the exchange 
through  ECRIS  of  information  extracted  from  the  criminal  records  between  the  Member 
States.  Its  purpose  is  to  assess  the  compliance  of  the  Member  States'  exchanges  with  the 
ECRIS legal framework and to identify any issues regarding the efficiency of the system, with 
a view to remedying the situation. The Commission reserves the right to take all appropriate 
action  to  ensure  that  the  Member  States  fulfil  their  legal  obligations  under  Council 
Framework Decision 2009/315/JHA.  

This  report  has  been  adopted  ahead  of  the  entry  into  operation  of  the  ECRIS-TCN  system, 
which will supplement ECRIS with an efficient mechanism for  the exchange of information 
on  convicted  third-country  nationals6,  in  order  to  take  stock  of  the  Member  States’ 
information exchanges before the entry into operation of this new system. 

1.1. ECRIS statistics 

This  report  provides  an  overview  on  the  use  of  ECRIS  for  in  the  five-year  period  from 
1 January 2020 to 31 December 2024. It is accompanied by the Commission Staff Working 
Document  SWD(2026)152  (‘the  SWD’).  Some  of  the  statistics  in  the  report  give  a  general 
overview  over  the  13-year  period  of  operation  of  ECRIS,  since  its  “go-live”  in  April  2012.  
However,  the  comparative  statistical  data  on  all  the  Member  States  and  the  individual 
Member States' statistical tables in Section 3 of the SWD cover ECRIS exchanges in the last 
five  years,  between  2020-2024.  Where  relevant,  the  statistics  for  previous  years  have  been 
used  as  a  reference  point.  The  report  also  includes  data  on  exchanges  with  the  United 
Kingdom until 31 December 2020.7   

1  
2  

OJ L 93, 7.4.2009, p. 23 - as amended by Directive (EU) 2019/884, OJ L 151, 7.6.2019, p. 143.  
OJ L 93, 7.4.2009, p. 33. This Decision was replaced by Directive (EU) 2019/884 with regard to the 
Member States bound by the Directive - as from 28 June 2022. 
COM/2017/341 final; SWD/2017/242 final. 
COM/2020/778 final; SWD/2020/378 final. 
Based on Article 13a(3) of Framework Decision 2009/315/JHA. 
See Section 2.9. 
The United Kingdom was an EU Member State until 31 January 2020, but on the basis of Article 127(1) 

3  
4  
5  
6  
7  
of the Withdrawal Agreement, it continued to exchange information via ECRIS during the transition period that 
ended on 31 December 2020. Currently, the UK exchanges information on criminal records with EU Member 
States on the basis of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. 

1 

 
 
 
 
The report is based on the statistics generated automatically by the system and subsequently 
sent by the Member States to the Commission. Out of the 233 statistical indicators established 
for ECRIS, a choice was made to publish only the most relevant and meaningful information. 
In  addition,  Member  States  were  requested  to  communicate  statistics  on  the  number  of 
convictions of nationals of other Member States handed down on their territory, to enable the 
Commission  to  provide an overview of  how the  notification  procedure is  implemented. The 
report includes conviction data received from all 27 Member States and the UK for 2020.  

1.2. General principles of the ECRIS system 

ECRIS  is  based  on  a  decentralised  architecture,  where  criminal  records  information  is 
exchanged electronically, exclusively between the Central Authorities of the Member States. 

Each Member State having convicted a citizen of another Member State is obliged to notify 
that Member State (‘Member State of nationality’) through ECRIS as soon as possible of all 
information related to the conviction (notifications of new convictions) and any subsequent 
updates (notifications of updates). 

The  Member  State  of  nationality  thus  keeps  a  central  repository  of  all  convictions  handed 
down against its nationals by criminal courts in other EU Member States, in addition to any 
convictions handed down in the Member State itself. The Member State of nationality is then 
obliged  to  store  and  update  all  information  received  through  ECRIS  and  to  provide 
information  on  criminal  records  (replies  to  requests)  when  requested  by  another  Member 
State (requests for information) within short deadlines of 10 or 20 days.8 

1.3. Executive summary 

More than 10 years after its launch, ECRIS reached a major milestone in 2022, when all 
27  Member  States  became  fully  interconnected  and  the  maximum  possible  number  of 
702  interconnections  was  established  and  stabilised.  This  ensures  that  information  on 
criminal records can be exchanged across the EU without technical barriers. 

After a decline caused by the pandemic and Brexit, the volume of exchanges has begun 
to grow again, reaching nearly 4.8 million messages in 2024, with an average of 400 000 
per month. Since 2017 the structure of exchanges has changed considerably - requests for 
information now exceed notifications of convictions almost five times. 

The number of convictions of citizens of other Member States dropped significantly in 
2020,  to  around  250 000  per  year  and  has  remained  at  this  level  since,  leading  to  fewer 
notifications  of  new  convictions.  In  2024  the  number  of  notifications  fell  to  260 000, 
comparable to  the level  of 2014.  All  Member States  now transmit notifications of new 
convictions,  and  many  have  cleared  their  backlogs,  yet  not  all  convictions  are  notified, 
notably by Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, Slovakia and Romania. 

8  

For a detailed description of the general principles governing the exchange of information via ECRIS, 
see Section 1 of the SWD. 

2 

 
 
 
 
 
The  number  of  requests  for  information  continued  to  increase  steadily,  reaching  1.2 
million in 2024. 2019 brought a complete shift in the use of ECRIS, which has been used 
more  often  for  purposes  other  than  criminal  proceedings.  In  2024  such  requests 
represented  56%  of  all  requests  and  concerned  mainly  recruitment  checks  for  jobs 
involving  contact  with  children  or  requests  from  individuals  seeking  information  on  their 
own criminal record.  

Nevertheless,  several  Member  States  still  make  limited  use  of  ECRIS  for  requesting 
information on  criminal  records, including Greece, Bulgaria,  Estonia,  Hungary,  Ireland, 
Italy, Latvia, Malta and Slovenia. While some Member States (Belgium, Croatia, Hungary, 
Ireland,  Italy,  Luxembourg,  Slovenia  and  Slovakia)  use  ECRIS  exclusively  or  almost 
exclusively  for  the  purpose  of  criminal  proceedings,  others  request  information  almost 
exclusively for other purposes (Czechia, Cyprus, Greece and Spain). 

In  2024,  only  16.6%  of  replies  contained  information  on  previous  convictions, 
reflecting the growing share of requests for purposes other than criminal proceedings. Still, 
over 197 000 replies revealed existence of previous convictions.  

The response rates have improved significantly compared with 2019, with the number 
of  late  replies  dropping  by  half  and  the  number  of  requests  for  which  the  deadline  had 
expired  decreasing  over  fivefold.  However,  9.7%  of  replies  were  still  sent  after  the  legal 
deadline, and 38 000 requests expired without receiving a reply. 

Despite  the  positive  trend  in  the  number  of  updates  (254 000  in  2024),  still  some 
Member States transmit only a few updates (Bulgaria, Greece, Ireland and Malta) or none at 
all (Estonia and Slovenia). 

There has been a worrying rise in the number of unanswered requests - 317 000 requests 
(5.8%  of  all  requests)  in  2020-2024  received  no  reply,  mostly  from  Cyprus,  Bulgaria, 
Croatia, Spain and Greece. The increasing tendency to violate the obligation to respond to 
requests for information is alarming, given its potentially tragic consequences.  

Exchanges concerning third-country nationals remain limited in number (88 000 - 7% 
of  all  requests),  although  they  are  expected  to  increase  with  the  entry  into  operation  of 
ECRIS-TCN in 2027. 

Considerable differences have persisted between the Member States in terms of activity 
and workload. 

2. ECRIS exchanges in numbers 

2.1. Connected Member States 

ECRIS is a decentralised system where all Member States should be interconnected with each 
other.  A  Member  State  is  considered  connected  to  ECRIS  if  it  exchanges  information  on 
criminal records with at least one other connected Member State.  

Another  milestone  has  been  reached  in  the  ECRIS  history  -  all  Member  States  are 
currently connected to ECRIS and exchange information on criminal records with all other 
Member States.9  

9  

For the history of connection to the ECRIS network, see Section 2.1 of the SWD. 

3 

 
 
 
 
The ECRIS system became operational in 2012, with a total of 173 interconnections out of a 
possible  702  at 
the  end  of  2019, 
time  (27 Member  States  connected).  By 
670 interconnections had been established (90% of the then possible 756). Only in 2022, after 
10 years of ECRIS operation, had all 702 possible interconnections10 between the Member 
States been established and are stable since.   

the 

➢  All  27  Member  States  connected  to  ECRIS  and  exchanging  information  on 

criminal records with all other Member States 
After 10 years of operation, another milestone was reached in the ECRIS history - in 
2022,  all  702  possible  interconnections  between  the  Member  States  had  been 
established and are stable since.  

2.2. Total number of messages exchanged 

The graph below illustrates the growing  annual volume of messages exchanged between  all 
to 
connected  Member  States  from  April  2012,  when  ECRIS  became  operational, 
31 December 2024. It should be noted that there were only 8 months of activity in 2012. All 
types  of  messages  are  included  in  these  volumes:  notifications,  updates,  requests,  replies, 
denials, other replies and exchanges of additional information.  

10  

This number takes into account the current number of Member States, after the Brexit, i.e. 27 (27*26). 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
 
The annual volume of messages was growing rapidly until 2019, when it reached nearly 4.2 
million, with an average of 348 000 messages per month. The period of pandemic and the 
ensuing  travel  limitations brought  a  stabilisation  of this number  in 2020, and then  a  sharp 
drop  in  2021  to  3.8  million  messages.  The  United  Kingdom’s  exit  from  ECRIS  on 
1 January 2021 also contributed to this drop. In 2022, the volume of messages started to grow 
steadily again to reach nearly 4.8 million in 2024, averaging 400 000 messages per month.  

The graph below illustrates the trend in sent requests, replies to requests, notifications of new 
convictions  and  notifications  of  updates  over  a  13-year  period  of  ECRIS  operation.  Replies 
include request replies, request denials and other replies.11 

11  

Other replies are for example replies with multiple persons found, with a person not being a national of 
the requested Member State, etc. 

5 

 
 
 
6 

 
 
 
 
The  proportions  between  the  number  of  notifications  of  new  convictions,  requests  and 
replies to requests began to shift radically since 2017. From almost equal numbers for each 
of  these  three  categories  in  2016,  amounting  roughly  to  350 000  per  year  per  category,  the 
number of requests  for information  and the related number of replies  to  requests became 
three  times  higher  than  the  number  of  notifications  in  the  years  2019  and  2020,  to  finally 
exceed the number of notifications nearly five times in 2023 and 2024. 
In 2020 the number of notifications of new convictions increased to 340 00012, only to drop 
again  in  2021  before  stabilising  at  a  rather  low  level  of  around  260 000  per  year  by  the 
end  of  2024,  equivalent  to  the  level  of  notifications  of  2014.  Given  the  growing  web  of 
interconnections  between  the  Member  States  and  the  fact  that,  compared  with  the  previous 
reporting  period,  fewer  Member  States  had  problems  notifying  all  new  convictions13,  this 
change  suggests  a  decrease  in  the  number  of  convictions  of  citizens  of  other  Member 
States. 

By contrast,  the number of requests for information and related replies  has  been  steadily 
growing  –  by  25%  since  2020  –  and  reached  a  total  of  1.2  million  for  each  of  these 
categories  in  2024.  This  increase  is  not  as  dramatic  as  in  the  previous  reference  period14, 
when  the  major  shift  in  the  use  of  ECRIS  took  place  with  purposes  other  than  criminal 
proceedings outnumbering three times those related to criminal proceedings (for further 
details,  see  Section 2.8).  The  steady  growth  in  the  number  of  requests  over  the  13  years  in 
which  ECRIS  has  been  operational  is  also  a  positive  sign  of  Member  States’  growing 
awareness  of  the  need  to  use  the  system  to  request  information  in  the  course  of  criminal 
proceedings  to  be  able  to  take  account  of  previous  convictions,  in  line  with  Framework 
Decision 2008/675/JHA.15 

➢  The number of messages  exchanged increased again after the pandemic to reach 

4.8 million in 2024 
The  period  of  pandemic,  the  related  travel  limitations  and  Brexit  caused  a  sharp 
drop in the number of messages exchanged to 3.8 million in 2021. In 2022, the volume 
of messages began to increase steadily again to reach nearly 4.8 million in 2024 with 
an  average  of  400 000  messages  per  month.  The  proportions  of  notifications  of 
convictions, requests and replies to requests have shifted radically since 2017, with 
the number of requests for information exceeding the number of notifications nearly 
five times in 2024.  

2.3. Number of notifications, requests and replies per Member State 

The graph below shows the total number of sent requests, replies to requests, notifications of 
new convictions and notifications of updates per Member State over the five years from 2020 
to 2024.16  

This increase was caused primarily by the UK sending 95 000 backlog notifications in 2020 (triple the 

12  
usual number of notifications sent annually by the UK) before exiting ECRIS. 
13  
14  
15  
16  

As indicated in Section 2.4. below. 
The period 2017-2019, covered by the Second Statistical Report. 
OJ L 220, 15.8.2008, p. 32. 
For the annual data in this period, see Section 2.2. of the SWD. 

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
8 

 
 
 
As in previous years, the most active Member States in  terms  of total  volume  of these  four 
types  of  messages  were  Germany  (25%  of  all  such  messages  exchanged),  Poland  (4.2%), 
Romania (4.2%), Italy (3.7%) and Spain (3.5%). 

The figures reveal significant differences between Member States in terms of ECRIS use 
and  workload.  Some  Member  States  request  information  considerably  more  often  than 
they  are  requested  to  provide  information.  Germany,  for  example,  submitted  almost 
4 million requests in 2020-2024 but received only 198 000 requests and Sweden sent 142 000 
requests against 42 200 received.17 Conversely, numerous Member States are confronted with 
a significant number of requests, while they send fewer requests of their own: e.g. Romania 
(901 000  replies  given  versus  19 400  requests  sent),  Poland  (835 000  v.  55 600),  Italy  
(622 000  v.  4 800).18  Other  Member  States  send  high  volumes  of  notifications  of  new 
convictions to the Member States of the offender’s nationality, while they send fewer requests 
for information, among them Belgium (135 000 notifications sent, 53 300 requests sent), Italy 
(86 600 notifications, 4 800 requests) and Greece (40 800 notifications, 12 requests). 

➢  Significant differences between the Member States in terms of ECRIS activities 

and workload 
Some  Member  States  send  considerably  more  requests  for  information  than  they 
receive  (Germany,  Sweden  and  Austria),  while  others  are  confronted  with  a 
significant  workload  replying  to  these  requests  (Romania,  Poland,  Italy,  France, 
Croatia, Bulgaria and Greece). The workload for some other Member States (Belgium, 
Italy  and  Greece) is  produced mostly  by sending  a  high number of notifications  of 
new convictions to the Member States of offenders’ nationality. 

2.4. Notifications 

The  graph  below  illustrates  the  total  volume  of  convictions  of  nationals  of  other  Member 
States,  corresponding  notifications  of  these  convictions  and  notifications  of  updates  sent  by 
each Member State over the five years, from 2020 to 2024.19  

Similarly, Austria (226 300 requests sent, 154 000 requests received) and Czechia (191 300 sent, 

17  
126 500 received). 
18  
Similarly, France (254 000 replies given versus 83 500 requests sent), Croatia (239 400 v. 16 300), 
Bulgaria (238 000 v. 1 300), Greece (236 000 v. 12), Slovakia (209 000 v. 6 400) and Hungary (199 000 v. 
2 700). 
19  

For the annual data during this period, see Section 2.3 of the SWD. 

9 

 
 
 
 
10 

 
 
Over  the  course  of  the  reporting  period,  1 270 000  new  convictions  of  citizens  of  other 
Member  States  were  handed  down  in  the  Member  States,  with  an  average  of  250 000 
convictions  per  year.  The  number  of  convictions  dropped  significantly  in  2020  and  has 
remained at the same level since, resulting in a decrease in the number of notifications of 
new convictions.  

In  total,  Member  States  sent  around  1.4  million  notifications  of  new  convictions  and  1.4 
million notifications of updates in this period.  

The  number  of  notifications  sent  varied  considerably  among  Member  States,  from 
556 000 notifications of new convictions sent by Germany to 800 such notifications sent by 
Lithuania and Estonia in the five years. Two factors, in particular, explain these variations: the 
size of the country and the number of convictions of nationals  of other Member States (EU 
non-national population).20 

The most active Member States in terms of sending notifications of new convictions were 
Germany (40% of all such notifications), Belgium (9.6%) and Spain (9.3%). The ranking is 
similar for notifications of updates: Germany (49%), Spain (15%) and France (9%). 

In  the  2020-2024  reporting  period,  the  respective  proportions  of  notifications  of  new 
convictions  and  notifications  of  updates  fluctuated  around  50%.  In  particular,  in  2024 
these notifications accounted for 51% and 49% respectively, compared to 58% and 42% in the 
reference  year  2019.  It  should  be  pointed  out  that  before 2018,  updates  accounted  for  only 
about  one  third  of  all  notifications.  The  present  significant  increase  in  the  number  of 
updates for many Member States should be considered a positive sign of their awareness of 
the importance of communicating subsequent changes to initial notifications.  

The  respective  proportions  of  notifications  of  new  convictions  and  notifications  of 
updates varied significantly among the Member States, from the number of updates being 
four times as  high  (in  the case of Poland) or over twice  as  high  (in the case of  Austria  and 
Czechia)  as  the  number  of  initial  notifications,  via  roughly  equal  proportions  of  both 
categories  of  notifications  (in  the  case  of  Italy,  the  Netherlands  and  Hungary)  to  updates 
accounting for a tiny part of all notifications (in the case of Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, 
Malta and Romania). For Germany, Spain and France, which sent the highest total number of 
notifications  in  the  reporting  period,  the  updates  amounted  respectively  to  about  56%,  61% 
and 60%, respectively. 

With regard to the issues identified in the previous Statistical Reports of many Member States 
not  sending  any,  or  only  few,  notifications  of  new  convictions  or  updates,  the  situation 
improved  considerably  in  2020-2024,  both  in  terms  of  the  number  of  Member  States 
fulfilling their obligations and the volume of information notified. 

Firstly, all Member States now send notifications of new convictions, however, some still 
do  not  notify  all  the  convictions  handed  down  on  their  territory,  including  Denmark 
(43 300  missing  notifications;  70%  of  convictions  not  notified),  Ireland  (42 600;  63%), 
Slovakia  (3 600;  57%),  Romania  (800;  43%)  and  Luxembourg  (3 000;  15%).  As  a  result, 
these convictions have not been registered in the Member States of nationality.  

20  

See statistics from Eurostat: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=File:Non-
national_population_by_group_of_citizenship,_1_January_2024.png. 

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On  the  other  hand,  a  new  phenomenon  has  been  observed  in  the  majority  of  Member 
States21  of  sending  amounts  of  notifications  of  new  convictions  far  exceeding  the  actual 
number  of  convictions.  This  may  be  the  result  of  Member  States  notifying  a  backlog  of 
convictions from previous years.  

Secondly, two Member States (Estonia and Slovenia) did not send any updates of previous 
notifications,  and  a  further  four  Member  States  sent  a  low  number  of  updates,  namely 
Bulgaria  (2),  Greece  (43),  Ireland  (476)  and  Malta  (10).  Failure  by  the  convicting  Member 
State  to  send  updates  results  in  the  Member  State  of  nationality  processing  and 
disseminating unreliable information that is not up-to-date.22 

➢  Fewer criminal  convictions in  the  EU since the pandemic, resulting in a  drop in 

the number of notifications 
The  number  of  convictions  of  citizens  of  other  Member  States  dropped 
significantly in 2020, from over 320 000 in the previous years to 250 000 convictions 
per  year  and  remained  at  this  level  since,  causing  a  decrease  in  the  number  of 
notifications of new convictions. In 2024 the total number of notifications dropped to 
260 000, the number recorded in 2014. 

➢  All Member States sending notifications of new and backlog convictions, but still 

not all convictions are notified 
In comparison with previous reporting periods, the situation improved considerably 
in  2020-2024,  and  all  Member  States  now  send  notifications  of  new  convictions. 
Moreover,  the  majority  of  them  notified  numbers  of  convictions  far  exceeding  the 
actual  number  of  new  convictions  in  that  period,  which  suggests  that  they  have  been 
notifying a backlog of convictions from previous years. 

However, some Member States still do not notify all the convictions handed down 
on their territory (Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, Slovakia and Romania). 

➢  Despite the positive trend of increasing number of updates, still many remain not 

notified 
The  number  of  notifications  of  updates  has  been  continuously  growing  to  reach 
254 000 in 2024. Updates accounted for half of all notifications sent, up from 42% in 
2019. Although noticeably more Member States send updates of previous notifications, 
some  still  send  no  updates  at  all  (Estonia  and  Slovenia)  or  only  a  few  (Bulgaria, 
Greece, Ireland and Malta).  

2.5. Requests for information 

The graph below compares the total volume of requests for information sent by each Member 
State  in  2020-2024  with  the  volume  of  replies  received  and  indicates  the  percentage  of 
requests that received a reply.23 

21  
Italy, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom. 

Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Finland, Croatia, Hungary, 

22  

23  

For  a  detailed  analysis  of  individual  Member  State  statistics  on  convictions  and  notifications,  see 
Section 3 of the SWD. 
For the annual data over the course of this period, see Section 2.4 of the SWD. 

12 

 
 
 
 
 
 
13 

 
 
 
Nearly  5.5  million  requests  for  information  were  issued  in  the  period  of  2020-2024.  As 
mentioned  in  Section  2.2,  the  annual  number  of  requests  has  grown  by  25%  since  2020, 
reaching 1.2 million in 2024.  

The number of issued requests varied considerably among Member States, from almost 
4 million  sent  by  Germany  to  just  12  sent  by  Greece.  The  main  factors  explaining  this 
variation  are  the  number  of  nationals  of  other  Member  States  residing  in  a  given  Member 
State  and  national  legislation  setting  out  obligations  for  presenting  criminal  record 
certificates. 

As  in  previous  years,  the  most  active  Member  State  in  terms  of  issued  requests  was 
Germany  (73%  of  all  requests  in  2020-2024),  followed  by  Spain  (4.4%)  and  Austria 
(4.1%).24  The  most  significant  rise  in  the  number  of  requests  was  observed  in  Sweden  and 
Romania,  which  sent  five  times  more  requests  in  2024  than  in  2019,  as  well  as  in  Belgium 
and Spain, where the number of requests sent nearly tripled.  

Despite the increase in the number of requests in general, the problem noted in the previous 
Statistical  Reports  persists  of  some  Member  States  sending  almost  no  requests  at  all 
(Greece)  or  a  low  number  of  requests  in  relation  to  their  EU  non-national  population 
(Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malta and Slovenia).25 Moreover, in 2020-
2024  the  number  of  requests  sent  dropped  significantly  in  France,  Ireland  and  Italy  by 
comparison  with  the  reference  data  for  2019.  This  might  lead  to  a  situation  where  criminal 
courts  pass  judgments  without  knowledge  of  convictions  handed  down  in  other  Member 
States,  contrary  to  the  requirements  set  out  in  Framework  Decision  2008/675/JHA.  In 
addition,  the  preventive  effect  of  requesting  criminal  record  certificates  for  purposes  other 
than criminal proceedings, such as pre-employment checks, will be hampered.  

For further analysis and a breakdown of requests for criminal proceedings and for other 
purposes, see Section 2.8. 

The  above  data  also  show  that  not  all  requests  for  information  are  replied  to  (see  also 
Section 2.6.). Of the Member States sending the highest number of requests, 7% of German 
requests  (286  000),  5%  of  Austrian  requests  (10  500)  and  as  much  as  15%  of  Portuguese 
requests (21 300) were  not responded to  in  the reporting  period. For Spain,  by contrast,  the 
number of replies received in this period exceeded 11% the number of their requests, which 
could result from receiving the backlog of replies from other Member States. 

➢  Requests  for  information  reaching  1.2  million  on  the  back  of  slow  but  steady 

increase 
The annual number of requests for information has grown steadily by 25% since 
2020, reaching 1.2 million in 2024. However, this growth has not been as dramatic 
as in the previous reference period. 

The  number  of  issued  requests  continued  to  vary  considerably  among  Member 
States, from 4 million sent by Germany (73% of all requests) to just 12 sent by Greece 
in the five-year reporting period. 

Followed by Czechia (3.5% of all requests sent in 2020-2024), Sweden (2.6%), Portugal (2.5%) and the 

24  
Netherlands (2.2%). 
25  
- 5 100, Italy - 4 800, Latvia - 1 800, Malta - 370 and Slovenia - 2 500. 

Bulgaria sent a total of 1 300 requests in 2020-2024, while Estonia sent 4 350, Hungary - 2 700, Ireland 

14 

 
 
 
 
➢  ECRIS still not always used to request information on previous convictions 

Despite  the  increase  in  the  total  number  of  requests,  the  problem  noted  in  the 
previous Statistical Reports of some Member States sending almost no requests at 
all  (Greece)  or  sending  only  a  few  requests  in  relation  to  their  EU  non-national 
population (Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Malta and Slovenia) still 
persists and concerns mostly the same Member States. 

Several  Member  States  use  ECRIS  exclusively  or  almost  exclusively  for  the 
purpose  of  criminal  proceedings  (Belgium,  Croatia,  Hungary,  Ireland,  Italy, 
Luxembourg,  Slovenia  and  Slovakia).  Other  Member  States  request  information 
almost exclusively for purposes other than criminal proceedings (Czechia, Cyprus, 
Greece and Spain). 

2.6. Replies to requests 

The graph below shows the total number and percentage of replies sent by each Member State 
in 2020-2024, compared to the number of corresponding requests for information received.26  

26  

For the annual data in this period, see Section 2.5 of the SWD. 

15 

 
 
 
 
 
16 

 
 
 
Member States sent a total of nearly 5.2 million replies to requests for information in 2020-
2024. The number of requests received in this period varied significantly among Member 
States,  from  933 000  received  by  Romania  and  884 000  -  by  Poland  to  4 400  requests 
received by Malta. Two factors, in particular, explain these variations: the overall population 
of the Member State and the number of its nationals residing in other Member States. 

The Member States which responded to the highest number of requests in absolute terms 
(i.e. not necessarily the highest in proportion to what they received) in the five-year reporting 
period  were  Romania  (901 000  replies  –  17.5%  of  all  replies  sent  through  ECRIS),  Poland 
(835 000 – 16%) and Italy (621 000 – 12%).27  

While all Member States respond to requests in general, in 2020-2024 still 317 000 requests 
for  information  received  no  reply  As  many  as  one  third  of  Member  States  sent  fewer 
replies  than  the  number  of  requests  they  received,  with  an  average  of  around  5.8%  of 
requests remaining unanswered, up from 4.1% in 2019 and 3.6% in 2016. This growing 
tendency  not  to  fulfil  the  obligation  to  respond  to  requests  for  information  is  alarming, 
given its potentially tragic consequences. 

Among  the  Member  States  that  received  the  highest  number  of  requests,  Bulgaria  failed  to 
reply  to  31%  of  requests  received  (105 000),  Croatia  to  15.5%  (44 000),  Spain  to  15% 
(39 800),  Greece  to  14%  (39 800),  Poland  to  5.5%  (49 000),  France  to  4%  (10 400)  and 
Romania to 3.4% (32 000). Italy, the Member State that received the third-highest number of 
requests, succeeded in responding to nearly all of them.  

Cyprus was the Member State with the highest percentage of requests not replied to (62% 
of the requests received). By contrast, in Latvia, Lithuania, Ireland and Portugal, the number 
of replies sent in this period exceeded the number of requests received by 1-4%, which could 
be the result of sending the backlog of replies. For a detailed analysis of individual Member 
State statistics on replies to requests, see Section 3 of the SWD.  

➢  Growing number of unanswered requests for information 

While all Member States reply to requests in general, in 2020-2024 317 000 requests 
for  information  received  no  reply.  This  corresponds  to  5.8%  of  all  requests,  up 
from  4.1%  in  2019.  The  growing  tendency  of  violating  the  obligation  to  reply  to 
requests  for  information  is  alarming,  given  its  potentially  tragic  consequences.  The 
Member States which failed to reply to the highest percentage of the requests received 
by them were Cyprus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Spain and Greece. 

2.7. Replies not meeting legal deadlines 
Another  recurring  issue  is  the  failure  to  reply  to  requests  within  the  legal  deadlines.28  The 
graphs below provide an overview for all Member States of the total volumes and percentages 
of replies sent after the legal deadlines in 2020-2024, and an overview of requests for which 
the deadline to reply expired, registered at the end of each calendar year.29 

Followed by several Member States that each accounted for around 5% of all replies sent through 

27  
ECRIS: France (254 000 replies sent), Croatia (239 000), Bulgaria (238 000) and Greece (235 800). 
28 
29  
Section 2.6, and individual Member State statistics on late replies in Section 3. 

See Section 1.2 above. 
For more details, see the SWD: annual data on replies sent after the legal deadline are provided in 

17 

 
 
 
 
18 

 
 
 
19 

 
 
 
Over  500 000  replies  were  sent  after  the  legal  deadline  in  2020-2024,  which  amounts  to 
9.7% of the total number of replies sent during that period. In addition, 38 000 requests for 
which the deadline to reply expired were registered, amounting to 0.7% of all requests. 

These  numbers  demonstrate  a  significant  improvement  replying  to  requests  in  a  timely 
manner.  In  comparison  with  the  reference  data  for  201930,  the  number  of  late  replies 
dropped by  half  and  the  number  of  requests  for  which  the  deadline  expired  diminished 
over five times. 

Despite the overall decrease in the number of replies not meeting legal deadlines, the problem 
of late replies, which was already noted in the previous Statistical Reports, persists in several 
Member  States.  While  the  great  majority  of  Member  States  remains  under  0.5%  of  late 
replies, the struggling with respecting deadlines concerns mainly those Member States that 
were  confronted  with  a  huge  volume  of  requests  for  information31  (PL:  22%  of  their 
replies were sent late in 2020-2024, amounting to 190 800 late replies), RO (18%; 163 700), 
EL (13%; 31 200), HR (11%; 27 000), BG (10%; 24 900), IT (9%; 5 900)), but also several 
other Member States (BE (43%; 39 700), MT (17%; 700), LV (9%; 5 700), SI (9%; 3 000), 
PT (7%; 6 600)).  

The  problem  of  requests  for  which  the  deadline  to  reply  expired,  resulting  in  either  late 
replies  or  no  reply  at  all,  was  marginal.  It  concerned  3.5%  of  requests  in  Greece  (9.600 
requests  with  expired  deadline),  3%  of  requests  in  Bulgaria  (10.100),  2%  of  requests  in 
Croatia (5.900), 2% of requests in Belgium (1.800), 2% of requests in Luxembourg (600), 1% 
of requests in Poland (6.500) and 1% of requests in France (1.600). 

➢  Significant improvement in replying to requests within the deadline 

Compared to the reference data for 2019, the number of late replies dropped by half 
in  the  period  of  2020-2024,  and  the  number  of  requests  for  which  the  deadline  to 
reply had expired diminished over 5 times. Still, 500 000 replies were sent after the 
legal deadline (9.7% of the total number of replies), and 38 000 requests for which 
the deadline to reply expired were registered (0.7% of all requests). 

The  problem  of  late  replies  concerned  mostly  the  Member  States  that  were 
confronted  with  a  huge  volume  of  requests  for  information  (Poland,  Romania, 
Greece, Croatia, Bulgaria and Italy), but not only (Belgium and Malta). 

2.8. Requests for the purpose of criminal proceedings and for other purposes 

The graphs below illustrate the respective proportions of requests for the purpose of criminal 
proceedings and requests for other purposes in the 2020-2024 reporting period as a whole and 
per year. 

30  
31  

190 000 late replies (18.4% of all replies); 42 000 requests for which the deadline to reply expired.  
With the exception of France. 

20 

 
 
 
 
For many years the share of requests for purposes other than criminal proceedings averaged 
20% of all requests. As mentioned above, the year 2019 saw a fundamental shift in the use 
of  the  system,  which  started  to  be  consulted  equally  often  for  the  purposes  other  than 
criminal proceedings as for the criminal proceedings (50/50%).  

21 

 
 
 
 
 
This tendency continued over the following years, and in 2024 requests for purposes other 
than criminal proceedings reached 56% of all requests, amounting to 692 500. The number 
of requests for the purpose of criminal proceedings remained stable, at around 540 000. 

The  increase  in  requests  for  purposes  other  than  criminal  proceedings  is  due  mainly  to  the 
strong  increase  in  requests  for  the  purpose  of  recruitment  for  professional  or  organised 
voluntary  activities  involving  direct  and  regular  contact  with  children,  in  line  with 
Directive 2011/93/EU.32 A total of 233 400 such requests were sent in 2024, significantly up 
from  the  115 000  sent in  2019. The second  contributing  factor was  a  near-doubling of  the 
number  of  general  requests  for  administrative  purposes  compared  to  2019,  resulting  in 
34 100 such requests in 2024. Thirdly, the number of requests related to employment vetting 
was  seven  times  higher  in  2024  than  in  2019,  at  14 000.  The  annual  number  of  requests 
made by individuals  for their own criminal record has  remained at nearly the same high 
level since 2019 of 380 400 requests.  

Germany is the Member State mainly responsible for the increase in the number of requests 
for purposes other than criminal proceedings, with nearly 2 million such requests  (68% of 
all requests for other purposes) sent in 2020-2024. 

In  2024,  most  requests  for  purposes  other  than  criminal  proceedings  were  still  made  by 
individuals seeking to obtain information on their own criminal record: 55% of requests 
for purposes other than criminal proceedings and 31% of all requests sent. However, the 
share  of  requests  for  such  purposes  dropped  from  70%  in  the  reference  year  2019.  The 
second-highest  number  of  requests  related  to  recruitment  in  accordance  with  Directive 
2011/93/EU (34% of requests for purposes other than criminal proceedings33, up from 22% in 
2019).  The  share  of  general  requests  for  administrative  purposes  increased  from  3.8%  of 
requests for purposes other than criminal proceedings in 2019 to 5% in 2024 (and 3% of all 
requests),  the  third-highest  share.  The  number  of  requests  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a 
different  nationality  was  four  times  higher  in  2024  than  in  2019,  and  was  placed  on  the 
fourth  position  with  2.5%  (17  400).  Finally,  requests  related  to  employment  vetting 
amounted to 2% of requests for purposes other than criminal proceedings.34   

As  the  use  of  categories  of  requests  purposes,  when  requesting  information  via  ECRIS, 
varies a lot between the Member States, it is not possible to draw firm conclusions from the 
current  statistics  regarding  the  number  of  requests  in  each  sub-category.  Some  Member 
States  tend  to  use  only  general  request  categories,  e.g.  ‘administrative  purpose’  or 
‘employment vetting’, instead of indicating the specific purpose of the request. 

The  statistics  also  reveal  that  several  Member  States  use  ECRIS  exclusively  or  almost 
exclusively  for  the  purpose  of  criminal  proceedings  (Belgium  –  100%  of  their  requests; 
Hungary and Slovenia – 99 %; Croatia and Luxembourg – 96%; Ireland- 93%; Italy – 91%; 
Slovakia  -  86%).  On  the  other  hand,  some  Member  States  request  information  almost 
exclusively for purposes  other than criminal proceedings (Spain - 97% of their requests; 
Greece  - 93%;  Czechia  – 88%;  Cyprus – 97% of their requests in  2022 and  2024). Both  of 
these tendencies lead to lack of vital information, which might have tragic consequences. 

32  

33  
34  

Directive 2011/93/EU on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child 
pornography, OJ L 335, 17.12.2011, p. 1. 
19% of all requests made. 
For  more  details  on  the  number  of  requests  for  various  categories  of  purposes  in  2020  –  2024,  see 
Section 2.7 of the SWD. 

22 

 
 
 
 
 
➢  ECRIS  used  more  frequently  for  the  purposes  other  than  criminal  proceedings 

than for the purpose of criminal proceedings! 
A  fundamental  shift  in  the  use  of  ECRIS  began  in  2019,  with  the  system  being 
consulted  increasingly  more  often  for  purposes  other  than  criminal  proceedings 
(e.g. pre-employment screening, requests on one’s own criminal record, etc.). In 2024 
these requests reached 56% of all requests sent, amounting to 692 500 requests. 

This  increase  is  due  mainly  to three factors. Firstly, a doubling compared  to  2019 of 
the  number  of  requests  for  the  purpose  of  recruitment  for  activities  involving 
contact  with  children,  in  line  with  Directive  2011/93/EU  (233 400 requests, 
accounting  for  34%  of  requests  for  purposes  other  than  criminal  proceedings). 
Secondly, a high number of requests by individuals for information on their own 
criminal  record  (380 400  requests,  55%).  Thirdly,  a  near-doubling  of  general 
requests for administrative purposes (34 100 requests, 5%).  

2.9. Requests concerning EU nationals and Third Country Nationals (TCN) 

The  graphs  below  represent  the  respective  proportions  of  requests  concerning  EU  nationals 
and requests concerning TCN in the 2020-2024 reporting period as a whole and per year.35 

35  

See also the table in Section 2.8 of the SWD. 

23 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
On  average,  93%  of  all  requests  sent  in  2020-2024  concerned  EU  nationals,  while  around 
7%  (378 400  requests)  concerned  TCN.  The  share  of  requests  for  stateless  persons  was 
negligible (0.01%, 550 requests). 

Although  the  share  of  requests  for  information  on  TCN  has  remained  at  the  same  level 
since 2019, the actual number of such requests has been growing steadily to reach 88 600 
in 2024. 
In  2019,  supplementary  legislation  was  adopted36  establishing  a  centralised  ECRIS-TCN 
system  allowing  for  efficient  identification  of  the  Member  States  holding  criminal  records 
information on TCN convicted in the EU. Once the system becomes operational, it will enable 
more efficient exchanges through ECRIS of information on TCN, which is expected to lead to 
a considerable increase in the number of requests for information. 

➢  ECRIS still rarely used for TCN 
In 2020-2024, on average 93% of all requests concerned EU nationals, while around 7% 
concerned  third  country  nationals  and  stateless  persons.  The  number  of  requests  for 
information on TCN has grown steadily since 2017 to exceed 88 000 in 2024. The entry 
into  operation  of  ECRIS-TCN  is  expected  to  lead  to  a  considerable  increase  in  the 
number of exchanges concerning TCN through ECRIS. 

36  

Regulation 2019/816/EU establishing ECRIS-TCN, OJ L 135, 22.05.2019, p. 1; Directive 2019/884/EU. 

24 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2.10. Replies containing information on convictions 

The  graphs  below  show  the  respective  proportions  of  replies  to  requests  containing 
information on one or more convictions, replies with no convictions, denials of requests and 
other replies  in the 2020-2024 reporting period as a whole and per year.37 

37  

See footnote 11. See also the table in Section 2.9 of the SWD. 

25 

 
 
 
 
 
 
In the 13 years since ECRIS became operational, 23% of replies on average have contained 
information  on  previous  convictions.  This  means  that  in  nearly  one  case  in  four,  the 
person concerned had been previously convicted one or more times, proving the value of 
ECRIS as a tool for obtaining information on criminal records. 

For many years, this percentage remained stable at the level of around 30%, before dropping 
suddenly to 19% in 2019, and then to 16.6% in 2024, in parallel to the dramatic growth of 
the number of requests for purposes other than criminal proceedings. It is a positive sign that 
the  majority  of  individuals  being  the  subject  of  a  request  for  information  related  to,  for 
example, recruitment checks, obtaining a licence or for administrative purposes have not had 
any previous convictions. 

In  2024  the  replies  including  conviction  information  represented  197  600  replies  to  all 
requests for information (up from 188 000 in 2019). Replies with no conviction information 
accounted for 78% of all replies, with other replies and requests denials accounting for 5% of 
the total. 

➢  Only 16.6% of replies revealed the existence of previous criminal convictions 

In  the  13  years  since  ECRIS  became  operational,  on  average  23%  of  requests  for 
information  received  replies  containing 
information  on  previous  criminal 
convictions of a person concerned. With the dramatic rise since 2019 in the number of 
requests for purposes  other than criminal  proceedings, where persons concerned have 
not been usually convicted before,  this percentage has continued to drop, reaching 
16.6%  in  2024.  Yet  again,  over  197 000 replies  that  year  contained  information  on 
previous convictions.  

26