PURPOSE: to enable Iceland and Norway to participate in the law enforcement aspects of Eurodac.

NON-LEGISLATIVE ACT: Council Decision (EU) 2020/276 on the conclusion of the Protocol between the European Union, Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway to the Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway concerning the criteria and mechanisms for establishing the State responsible for examining a request for asylum lodged in a Member State or in Iceland or Norway regarding access to Eurodac for law enforcement purposes.

CONTENT: the Council decided to approve, on behalf of the Union, the Protocol between the European Union and Iceland and Norway to the Agreement between the European Community and Iceland and Norway concerning the criteria and mechanisms for establishing the State responsible for examining a request for asylum lodged in a Member State or in Iceland or Norway concerning access to Eurodac for law enforcement purposes.

The negotiations on an Agreement between the European Union, on the one part, and Iceland and Norway, on the other part, on the modalities of the participation by Iceland and Norway to the procedure for comparison and data transmission for law enforcement purposes foreseen in chapter VI of the ‘recast’ Eurodac Regulation ( Regulation (EU) No 603/2013 ) have resulted in a Protocol extending the application of the Agreement of 19 January 2001 to the law enforcement aspects of Eurodac. The Protocol was signed on 24 October 2019, subject to its conclusion at a later date.

The extension of the application of the provisions governing access for law enforcement purposes of the Eurodac Regulation to Iceland and Norway shall enable:

- the law enforcement authorities of these two countries to request the comparison of fingerprint data with fingerprint data entered by the other participating States and stored in the Eurodac database, when trying to establish the identity of a person suspected of terrorism or a serious crime, or a victim, or to obtain more information about that person;

- the law enforcement authorities of all other participating States, whether other EU Member States or Associates Countries, to request a comparison of fingerprint data against the data entered by Iceland and Norway and stored in the Eurodac database, for the same purposes.

Before consulting Eurodac, the designated authorities of Iceland and Norway shall consult, provided that the conditions for a comparison are met, the Visa Information System under Council Decision 2008/633/JHA concerning access for consultation of the Visa Information System (VIS) by designated authorities of Member States and by Europol for the purposes of the prevention, detection and investigation of terrorist offences and of other serious criminal offences.

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 4.3.2020.

The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs adopted the report by Jadwiga WIŚNIEWSKA (ECR, PL) on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Protocol between the European Union, Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway to the Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway concerning the criteria and mechanisms for establishing the State responsible for examining a request for asylum lodged in a Member State or in Iceland or Norway regarding access to Eurodac for law enforcement purposes.

The committee recommended that the European Parliament give its consent to the conclusion of the Protocol.

As a reminder, the Eurodac Regulation (recast) (Regulation (EU) No 603/2013) enables law enforcement authorities to consult Eurodac in order to prevent, detect and investigate terrorist offences and other serious criminal offences.

Since 2001, the Agreement between the European Community and Iceland and Norway concerning the criteria and mechanisms for establishing the State responsible for examining a request for asylum lodged in a Member State or in Iceland or Norway also covers the application of the ‘Dublin-related’ parts of Eurodac. However, law enforcement access, which was a new element of the ‘recast’ Eurodac Regulation compared to the original Eurodac regime (Council Regulation (EC) No 2725/2000) has not been regulated so far by the said Agreement.

The negotiations on an agreement between the European Union, on the one part, and Iceland and Norway, on the other part, on the modalities of the participation by Iceland and Norway to the procedure for comparison and data transmission for law enforcement purposes foreseen in chapter VI of the ‘recast’ Eurodac Regulation have been finalised and an Agreement in the form of a Protocol to the Agreement of 19 January 2001, extending the application of the Agreement of 19 January 2001 to law enforcement was initialled.

The extension of the law enforcement provisions of the Regulation (EU) No. 603/2013 to Iceland and Norway would:

- enable the law enforcement authorities of Iceland and Norway to request a comparison of fingerprint data against the data entered by other participating States and stored in the Eurodac database when they seek to establish the identity or get further information concerning a person who is suspected of a serious crime or terrorism or concerning a victim;

- the law enforcement authorities of all other participating States, whether other EU Member States or Associates Countries, to request a comparison of fingerprint data against the data entered by Iceland and Norway and stored in the Eurodac database, for the same purposes.