The European Parliament adopted by 648 votes to 3, with 1 abstention, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Decision 2005/671/JHA as regards compliance with European Union rules on the protection of personal data.

As a reminder, this proposal aims to align Council Decision 2005/671/JHA with the principles and rules laid down in the Data Protection Law Enforcement Directive (Directive (EU) 2016/680) in order to ensure consistent approach to protection afforded to persons regarding the processing of personal data in order to: (i) specify that the processing of personal data under Council Decision 2005/671/JHA can only take place for the prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of terrorist offences, in line with the purpose limitation principle; (ii) stipulate that the categories of personal data that can be exchanged should be defined more precisely by Union or Member State law.

The European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure amends the Commission proposal as follows:

Provision of information concerning terrorist offences to Europol and the Member States

The application of Decision 2005/671/JHA, which involves the processing, including the exchange and further use, of information concerning terrorist offences, requires the processing of personal data.

The amended text specifies that in the interests of consistency and effectiveness of the protection of such personal data, the processing of personal data under Decision 2005/671/JHA must comply with Union law, as well as with the security requirements, safeguards and data protection guarantees laid down in other instruments of Union law which contain provisions on data protection, in particular Regulation (EU) 2016/794 on the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation and Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 on the protection of individuals 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 is consistent with national law.

Transposition

The directive should be transposed no later than two years after its entry into force.

The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs adopted the report by Patryk JAKI (ECR, PL) on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Decision 2005/671/JHA, as regards its alignment with Union rules on the protection of personal data.

As a reminder, this proposal aims to align Council Decision 2005/671/JHA with the principles and rules laid down in the Data Protection Law Enforcement Directive (Directive (EU) 2016/680) in order to ensure consistent approach to protection afforded to persons regarding the processing of personal data in order to: (i) specify that the processing of personal data under Council Decision 2005/671/JHA can only take place for the prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of terrorist offences, in line with the purpose limitation principle; (ii) stipulate that the categories of personal data that can be exchanged should be defined more precisely by Union or Member State law.

The committee responsible recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the proposal as follows:

Members proposed to amend Decision 2005/671/JHA to ensure the appropriate safety of the protection of personal data. They stressed that:

- each Member State should ensure that personal data is processed only for the purpose of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of terrorist offences in compliance with Union law on data protection;

- to ensure the uniform and consistent protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of their personal data, such data should be transferred in compliance with the relevant security requirements;

- exchanges of categories of personal data should be pursued in accordance with the security requirements, safeguards and data protection guarantees set out in Union law on data protection.

PURPOSE: to amend Council Decision 2005/671/JHA, as regards its alignment with Union rules on the protection of personal data.

PROPOSED ACT: Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.

BACKGROUND: Directive (EU) 2016/680 of the European Parliament and of the Council provides for harmonised rules for the protection and the free movement of personal data processed for the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or execution of criminal penalties, including the safeguarding against, and the prevention of threats to public security (Data Protection Law Enforcement Directive). The Directive requires the Commission to review relevant other acts of Union law in order to assess the need to align them with that Directive and to make, where necessary, the proposals to amend those acts to ensure a consistent approach to the protection of personal data falling within the scope of that Directive.

Council Decision 2005/671/JHA lays down specific rules on the exchange of information and cooperation concerning terrorist offences. In order to ensure a consistent approach to the protection of personal data in the Union, that Decision should be amended to align it with Directive (EU) 2016/680.

In the interest of clarity, the references contained in Decision 2005/671/JHA to the legal instruments governing the operation of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) should be updated.

CONTENT: this proposal aims to:

- align Council Decision 2005/671/JHA with the principles and rules laid down in the Data Protection Law Enforcement Directive, in order to ensure consistent approach to protection afforded to persons regarding the processing of personal data in order to: (i) specify that the processing of personal data under Council Decision 2005/671/JHA can only take place for the prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of terrorist offences, in line with the purpose limitation principle; (ii) stipulate that the categories of personal data that can be exchanged should be defined more precisely by Union or Member State law.