Batt O'Keeffe
Question:26 Mr. B. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice her views on a unified computer system under the auspices of the European police office to apprehend criminals. [4952/95]
Written Answers. - Computerised Criminal Intelligence.
Whether on the domestic level or the European level, the computer is an indispendable tool for the exchange and analysis of information and intelligence in relation to crime.
It will be helpful by way of background if I outline the present position in relation to the establishment of the European Police Office, Europol. Member states of the European Union are in the process of drawing up a convention on the establishment of Europol. In accordance with the conclusions of the European Council of 9 and 10 December 1994, the aim is to have the text of the convention finalised by June next. When the text is finalised, member states will proceed to ratify the convention in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements. The convention will, inter alia, set out how the computerised information system is to be structured and include detailed provisions to ensure that the rights of the individual in relation to personal data are fully protected. I do not anticipate any difficulties, on the basis of the actual proposals under discussion, about our agreeing the terms of this convention.
In advance of the drawing up of the Europol convention and the establishment of Europol itself, a unit called the Europol Drugs Unit, EDU, was established in The Hague in January 1994 in view of the urgent need to deal with the problems posed by international illicit drug trafficking and associated money laundering. The EDU was established on the basis of a Ministerial Agreement of June 1993. The European Council decided at its meeting on 9 and 10 December 1994 to extend the mandate of the EDU to the fight against illegal trade in radioactive and nuclear materials, crimes involving illegal immigration networks, vehicle trafficking and associated money-laundering operations. This decision was implemented at a Council meeting of Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs last week, which I attended, by the adoption of an instrument entitled "Council decision on Joint Action concerning the Europol Drugs Unit". This instrument replaces the previous Ministerial Agreement. Each member state has at least one liaison officer stationed in the EDU and this arrangement will continue when Europol itself is set up. No personal information is stored centrally by the EDU.