Activities of Rob ROOKEN related to 2020/0349(COD)
Plenary speeches (1)
Strengthening Europol’s mandate: cooperation with private parties, processing of personal data, and support for research and innovation (debate)
Amendments (14)
Amendment 126 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) Europe faces a security landscape in flux, with evolving and increasingly complex security threats. Criminals and terrorists exploit the advantagabuse the capabilities that the digital transformation and new technologies bring about, including the inter-connectivity and blurring of the boundaries between the physical and digital world. The COVID-19 crisis has added to this, as criminals have quickly seized opportunities to exploit the crisis by adapting their modes of operation or developing new criminal activities. Terrorism remains a significant threat to the freedom and way of life of the Union and its citizenenabled criminals to take improper advantage by adapting their modes of operation or developing new criminal activities.
Amendment 128 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2 a (new)
Recital 2 a (new)
(2a) Terrorism remains a significant threat to the freedom and way of life of the Union and its citizens. Some of these potential terrorists have grown up within the European Union, but terrorists also enter the European Union from outside and pose a threat to the security of the inhabitants of each Member State. It therefore remains important to protect the European Union's external borders adequately so that it can be seen who is and who is not entering European Union territory. It is also important to acknowledge at least that that is being insufficiently overseen.
Amendment 131 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) As Europe faces increasing threats from organised crime groups and terrorist attacks, an effective law enforcement response must include the availability of well-trained interoperable special intervention units specialised in the control of crisis situations. In the Union, the law enforcement units of the Member State cooperate on the basis of Council Decision 2008/617.53. Europol should be able to provide support to these special intervention units, including by providing operational, technical and financial support. It should be noted in this connection that, in accordance with the Treaties, Member States bear primary responsibility for the security of their nationals. Technical and financial support should therefore always be complementary to the efforts undertaken by Member States to ensure the security of their citizens. _________________ 53Council Decision 2008/617/JHA of 23 June 2008 on the improvement of cooperation between the special intervention units of the Member States of the European Union in crisis situations (OJ L 210, 6.8.2008).
Amendment 135 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) In recent years large scale cyber attacks targeted public and private entities alike across many jurisdictions in the Union and beyond, affecting various sectors including high-tech, transport, health and financial services. Cybercrime and cybersecurity cannot be separated in an interconnected environment. The prevention, investigation and prosecution of such activities is supported by coordination and cooperation between relevant actors, including the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (‘ENISA’), competent authorities for the security of network and information systems (‘NIS authorities’) as defined by Directive (EU) 2016/114854, law enforcement authorities and private parties. In order to ensure the effective cooperation between all relevant actors at Union and national level on cyber attacks and security threats, Europol should cooperate with the ENISA through the exchange of information and by providing analytical support. _________________ 54Directive (EU) 2016/1148 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2016 concerning measures for a high common level of security of network and information systems across the Union (OJ L 194, 19.7.2016, p. 1–30).
Amendment 137 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 7
Recital 7
(7) The threats posed by serious crime require a coordinated, coherent, multi- disciplinary and multi-agency response. Europol should be able to facilitate and support such intelligence-led security initiatives driven by Member States to identify, prioritize and address serious crime threats, such as the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats. Europol should be able to provide administrative, logistical, financial and operational support to such activities, supporting the identification of cross-cutting priorities and the implementation of horizontal strategic goals in countering serious crime.
Amendment 144 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 9
Recital 9
(9) Europol has an important role to play in support of the evaluation and monitoring mechanism to verify the application of the Schengen acquis as established by Council Regulation (EU) No 1053/2013. Given the need to reinforce the Union’s internal security, Europol should contribute with its expertise, analysis, reports and other relevant information to the entire evaluation and monitoring process, from programming to on-site visits and the follow-up. Europol should also assist in developing and updating the evaluation and monitoring tools. Europol should ensure that a public-friendly version of those evaluations is published too. In addition, Europol should in general ensure the highest possible level of transparency, in particular as regards the results it has achieved in cooperation with the competent services in the Member States.
Amendment 146 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10
Recital 10
(10) Risk assessments are an essential element of foresight toimportant for anticipateing new trendsforms of crime and tofor addressing new threats in serious crime and terrorism. To support the Commission and the Member States in carrying out effective risk assessments, Europol should provide threats assessment analysis based on the information it holds on criminal phenomena and trends, without prejudice to the EU law provisions on customs risk management. Risk assessments should be made public as far as possible.
Amendment 162 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) Publishing the identity and certain personal data of suspects or convicted individuals, who are wanted based on a Member State’s judicial decision, increases the chances of locating and arresting such individuals. To support Member States in this task, Europol should be able to publish on its website information on Europe’s most wanted fugitives for criminal offences in respect of which Europol is competent, and facilitate the provision of information by the public on these individuals. However, it is also important to abide by the presumption of innocence. Europol should abide by that principle in connection with any action, and in particular when it publishes personal information on the internet. Europol should therefore be constantly aware of the possible consequences of publishing personal data on its website.
Amendment 171 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 17
Recital 17
(17) Data collected in criminal investigations have been increasing in size and have become more complex. Member States submit large and complex datasets to Europol, requesting Europol’s operational analysis to detect links to other crimes and criminals in other Member States and outside the Union. Member States cannot detect such cross-border links less effectively through their own analysis of the data. Europol should be able to support Member States’ criminal investigations by processing large and complex datasets to detect such cross- border links where the strict requirements set out in this Regulation are fulfilled. Where necessary to support effectively a specific criminal investigation in a Member State, Europol should be able to process those data sets that national authorities have acquired in the context of that criminal investigation in accordance with procedural requirements and safeguards applicable under their national criminal law and subsequently submitted to Europol. Where a Member State provides Europol with an investigative case file requesting Europol’s support for a specific criminal investigation, Europol should be able to process all data contained in that file for as long as it supports that specific criminal investigation. Europol should also be able to process personal data that is necessary for its support to a specific criminal investigation in a Member State if that data originates from a third country, provided that the third country is subject to a Commission decision finding that the country ensures an adequate level of data protection (‘adequacy decision’), or, in the absence of an adequacy decision, an international agreement concluded by the Union pursuant to Article 218 TFEU, or a cooperation agreement allowing for the exchange of personal data concluded between Europol and the third country prior to the entry into force of Regulation (EU) 2016/794, and provided that the third county acquired the data in the context of a criminal investigation in accordance with procedural requirements and safeguards applicable under its national criminal law. Member States and Europol should keep presumption of innocence in mind at all times when providing and processing datasets.
Amendment 180 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) Europol provides operational support to the criminal investigations of the competent authorities of the Member States, especiallyincluding by providing operational and forensic analysis. Member States should be able to make the results of these activities available to their relevant other authorities, including prosecutors and criminal courts, throughout the whole lifecycle of criminal proceedings], without prejudice to Member State law, including criminal procedural law. To that end, Europol staff should be enabled to give evidence, which came to their knowledge in the performance of their duties or the exercise of their activities, in criminal proceedings, without prejudice to the applicable use restrictions and national law, including criminal procedural law.
Amendment 289 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point e
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2 – point e
Regulation (EU) 2016/794
Article 4 – paragraph 5
Article 4 – paragraph 5
Europol staff may assist the competent authorities of the Member States, at their request and in full accordance with their national law, in the taking of investigative measures. (This amendment applies throughout the text. Adopting it will necessitate corresponding changes throughout.)
Amendment 294 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3
Regulation (EU) 2016/794
Article 6 – paragraph 1
Article 6 – paragraph 1
1. In specific cases where Europol considersis of the opinion that a criminal investigation should be initiated into a crime falling within the scope of its objectives, it shall request the competent authorities of the Member State or Member States concerned via the national units to initiate, conduct or coordinate such a criminal investigation. In full compliance with Member State law, including criminal procedural law. (This amendment applies throughout the text. Adopting it will necessitate corresponding changes throughout.)
Amendment 347 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 6
Regulation (EU) 2016/794
Article 18a – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 18a – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) Europol assessconcludes that it is not possible to carry out the operational analysis of the investigative case file without processing personal data that does not comply with the requirements of Article 18(5). This assessment shall be recorded.
Amendment 369 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 7 – point c
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 7 – point c
Regulation (EU) 2016/794
Article 20 – paragraph 5
Article 20 – paragraph 5
5. When national law allows for Europol staff to provide evidence which came to their knowledge in the performance of their duties or the exercise of their activities, only Europol staff authorised by the Executive Director to do so shall be able to give such evidence in judicial proceedings in the Member States.; This provision shall be without prejudice to any obligations which Europol staff may have under the national law of Member States.