PURPOSE: the launch of an automated data exchange with
regard to DNA in Greece.
PROPOSED ACT: Council Implementing
Decision.
ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the Council adopts
the act after consulting the European Parliament but without being
obliged to follow its opinion.
BACKGROUND: according to Decision
2008/615/JHA on the stepping up of cross-border cooperation,
particularly in combating terrorism and cross-border crime, the
supply of personal data provided for under that Decision may not
take place until the general provisions on data protection set out
in that Decision have been implemented in the national law of the
territories of the Member States involved in such
supply.
Council
Decision 2008/616/JHA on the
implementation of Decision 2008/615/JHA provides that the
verification that the above condition has been met with respect to
automated data exchange and is to be done on the basis of an
evaluation report based on: (i) a questionnaire drawn up by the
relevant Council Working Group concerns each of the automated data
exchanges; (ii) an evaluation visit and (iii) a pilot
run.
Greece has completed the questionnaire on data
protection and the questionnaire on DNA data exchange. A successful
pilot run has been carried out by Greece with the
Netherlands.
An evaluation visit has taken place in Greece and a
report on the evaluation visit has been produced by the Dutch
evaluation team.
On 13 October 2016, the Council, having noted the
agreement of all Member States bound by Decision 2008/615/JHA,
concluded that Greece had fully implemented the general provisions
on data protection set out in Chapter 6 of Decision
2008/615/JHA.
CONTENT: the proposed implementing Council Decision
seeks to authorise Greece to receive and supply personal
data pursuant to Decision 2008/615/JHA as from the date of the
entry into force of this Decision for the purposes of automated
searching and comparison of DNA data.
As the conditions for triggering the exercise of such
implementing powers have been met and the procedure in this regard
has been followed, an Implementing Decision on the launch of
automated data exchange with regard to DNA data in Greece should be
adopted in order to allow that Member State to receive and supply
personal data pursuant to Articles 3 and 4 of Decision
2008/615/JHA.
The United Kingdom and Ireland shall participate in
the proposed Decision.