Prüm Convention

The Prüm Convention is an intergovernmental treaty between eleven Member States of the EU and Norway, which aims to improve cross-border cooperation, in particular the exchange of information between the Parties for the purpose of prevention and investigation of criminal offenses.

The agreement has the official designation Treaty on the stepping up of cross -border cooperation, particularly in combating terrorism, cross -border crime and illegal migration. In Austria the treaty also Schengen III Treaty is called. It was completed on 27 May 2005 in Rhineland-Palatinate Prüm. Signatory states are Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Austria, acceded to the Convention are far Finland, Slovenia, Hungary and Norway. The other EU Member States to accede to the Treaty; they are, but not required: The Treaty of Prüm is not an EU agreement. The following states have declared their intention to accede to the Treaty of Prüm: Italy, Portugal, Bulgaria, Romania, Sweden and Greece.

Data exchange

The Prüm Treaty provides that police and law enforcement agencies have direct access to certain databases that are managed by the authorities of the other Contracting States. Access rights extend to

• DNA analysis files ( in Germany: the DNA database of the Federal Criminal Police Office )
• Databases of electronically stored fingerprints ( in Germany: the Automated Fingerprint Identification System AFIS)
• Electronic register of motor vehicles and motor vehicle owner data ( in Germany: the Central Vehicle Register of the Federal Motor Vehicle Office )

The data and information transmissions are performed by so-called National Contact Points. These are in Germany, the Federal ( for DNA analysis data and fingerprints) and the Federal Motor Vehicle Office ( for motor vehicle records ).

More content regulation

The Prüm Treaty contains in addition

• Measures to prevent terrorist offenses ( information transfer, use of air marshals )
• Measures to combat illegal migration ( deployment of document advisers, support for repatriation )
• Regulations on other forms of cooperation (joint police operations, pursuit, help with major events, disasters and serious accidents with transnational implications Cooperation on request ) and
• Privacy Policy.

The treaty thus contains both provisions which (a. use of air marshals, measures to combat illegal migration and ) are attributable to Community law, as well as provisions for intergovernmental cooperation ( inter alia cross-border police cooperation ).

First experiences and successes

Currently, the Prüm partner Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain can match the world's first states their DNA databases. This makes the police work to the effect that the DNA data are available within a few minutes. To ensure a high data protection standards of this call will be made only with anonymous index files, called the hit / no-hit method. After this process, the interrogating police station only receives the message, whether to the desired profile data in the other Contracting State are also included or not. To obtain further information about the identity of the person, the services must contact or initiate a request for assistance in contact.

The results of the DNA matching of unidentified DNA between Germany and Austria: has summarized so far out of balance in Germany to almost 100 hits with Austrian records and vice versa more than 1,500 hits in Austria with German records. There have now achieved over 40 hits in the field of manslaughter or murder - related offenses.

Since February 2008, Germany, Luxembourg and Austria swap beside the world's first states in an automated procedure also fingerprint data. The three States grant reciprocal access to their national fingerprint databases. The police get within a few minutes an indication of whether also be present at the input fingerprint profile findings in that other State. This call also via the so-called hit / no-hit method.

Privacy Policy

Certified by the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, Peter Schaar, the contract 2006 or " overall [ ... ] a high data protection standard ', which is nevertheless in need of improvement, so in recent years become increasingly data protection concerns in relation to the practice of the data exchange on the basis of the Prüm Treaty loud. In its opinion on the planned transfer of the Treaty into EU law, the European Parliament called on EU interior ministers to take more account of data protection in cross- border exchange of police data. In its proposals for changes to the contract, the European Parliament called for to ensure an " adequate level of protection " for the sensitive personal data that is transmitted as part of the Prüm Treaty. The top EU data protection, Peter Hustinx, criticized the occasion of his activity report for 2007, the lax handling of EU interior ministers with personal data, particularly in the enforcement of the Treaty of Prüm.

At its entry into force of the treaty has to be ratified by the States concerned.

In Germany, the Prüm Treaty by the law of 10 July 2006, published in the Federal Law Gazette 2006, Part I, pp. 1458-1460 been implemented.

Transfer into the legal framework of the European Union

The Justice and Home Affairs Ministers of the Member States of the European Union decided on 15 February 2007, to have the provisions of the Prüm Treaty into EU law. At the Council meeting on 12-13. June 2007 was issued by the interior and justice ministers reached political agreement for a decision on the transfer of essential contractual rules of the Prüm Treaty into the legal framework of the EU.

In the priority desired by the States Parties identical transfer of all contractual provisions in several acts would have been necessary, which in this area would only by the Commission for the contents of the first column for lack of a right of initiative of the Member States can be initiated. The actual implementation was therefore adopted by the Council on 23 June 2008

• Adopted a Council Decision on the rules of the third pillar,
• While for the provisions that are attributable to the first pillar, further in the future between the signatory and acceding States of the contract will be applied, because it is not currently clear if and when the Commission exercises its ( sole ) right of initiative.

This especially relevant for police cooperation contents were (DNA, fingerprint and Central Vehicle Register data exchange, exchange of information in connection with major events and exchange of information on potential terrorists as well as essential parts of the contract regarding the improvement of police cooperation ) in the legal framework of EU transferred.

Due to the special situation between the United Kingdom and Ireland, the controversial transfer of Article 25 of the Prüm Treaty could ( measures of imminent danger: officers of the Party had been permitted to cross the border in urgent emergencies, without the prior consent of the other Party to the border in space to take provisional measures to prevent an imminent danger to life or limb not ) be implemented. So this was the first time in the German - Austrian police and judicial contract enshrined in the Treaty of Prüm and " copied " scheme to more European level (yet) no general agreement. For all Prüm States Parties to this scheme is fully applicable.

Criticism

Critics of the contract, which is indeed closed only between states, but then to be incorporated into EU law, circumvention of the EU Parliament. In addition, the States undertake also disclose information to other states if the respective actions serve no offense in their own country.