C 217/22
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
20.6.2023
1.
INTRODUCTION
1.
On 9 March 2023 the European Commission issued a Recommendation for a Council decision authorising the opening of negotiations for an agreement between the European Union and the Plurinational State of Bolivia on the exchange of personal data between the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and the Bolivian authorities competent for fighting serious crime and terrorism.
The Recommendation is accompanied by its respective Annex.
2.
The objective of the Recommendation is to open negotiations with the Plurinational State of Bolivia (hereinafter ‘Bolivia’) with the purpose of signing and concluding an international agreement enabling the exchange of personal data between Europol and the Bolivian authorities competent for fighting serious crime and terrorism.
The Annex to the Recommendation lays down the Council’s negotiating directives to the Commission, i.e. the objectives the latter should aim to achieve on behalf of the EU in the course of these negotiations.
3.
In the Explanatory Memorandum of the Recommendation the Commission assesses that Latin America’s organised crime groups pose a serious threat to the EU internal security as their actions are increasingly linked to a series of crimes within the Union, particularly in the realm of drug trafficking (2).
The 2021 EU Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (‘SOCTA’) by Europol highlights that unprecedented quantities of illicit drugs are trafficked to the EU from Latin America, generating multi-billion-euro profits, which are used to finance a diverse range of criminal organisations (international and EU-based) and to weaken the rule of law in the EU (3).
4.
Most of the drugs seized in the EU is transported by sea, primarily in maritime shipping containers (4), and shipped to the EU directly from the countries of production, as well as from neighbouring countries of departure in Latin America (5).
Bolivia is the third largest coca-cultivating country globally, accounting for 12,5 % of global cultivation (6).
5.
In its Programming Document 2022-2024, Europol has flagged that, among others, the growing demand for drugs and increased drug trafficking routes into the EU justify the need for enhanced cooperation with Latin American countries.
In this sense, in December 2022, Bolivia was included in Europol’s list of priority partners with which the agency may conclude Working Arrangements (7).
6.
Bolivia has also been identified as a key international partner to reduce the global supply of cocaine by the EMCDDA.
7.
The present Opinion of the EDPS is issued in response to a consultation by the European Commission of 9 March 2023, pursuant to Article 42(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8) (EUDPR).
The EDPS welcomes that he has been consulted on the Recommendation and expects a reference to this Opinion to be included in the preamble of the Council Decision.
In addition, the EDPS welcomes the reference, in
(2) See page 2 of the Explanatory memorandum of the Proposal.
(3) European Union Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment: A corrupt Influence: The infiltration and undermining of Europe’s economy and society by organised crime, page 12.
(4) Europol and the global cocaine trade, available at https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/eu-drug-markets/cocaine/europe-andglobal-cocaine-trade_en.
(5) Europol and the global cocaine trade, available at https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/eu-drug-markets/cocaine/europe-andglobal-cocaine-trade_en.
(6) EU Drug Market: Cocaine p.10, available at EU Drug Market: Cocaine | www.emcdda.europa.eu.
(7) Explanatory memorandum, p. 2.
(8) Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39).