RECOMMENDATION on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union, of the one part, and New Zealand, of the other part, on the exchange of personal data between the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and the authorities of New Zealand competent for fighting serious crime and terrorism

13.1.2023 - (10092/2022 – C9‑0288/2022 – 2022/0157(NLE)) - ***

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
Rapporteur: Annalisa Tardino

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union, of the one part, and New Zealand, of the other part, on the exchange of personal data between the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and the authorities of New Zealand competent for fighting serious crime and terrorism

(10092/2022 – C9‑0288/2022 – 2022/0157(NLE))

(Consent)

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the draft Council decision (10092/2022),

– having regard to the draft Agreement between the European Union, of the one part, and New Zealand, of the other part, on the exchange of personal data between the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and the authorities of New Zealand competent for fighting serious crime and terrorism (9269/2022),

– having regard to the request for consent submitted by the Council in accordance with Article 16(2), Article 88 and Article 218(6), second subparagraph, point (a), and Article 218(7) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (C9‑0288/2022),

– having regard to its non-legislative resolution of 10 July 2020[1] on the conclusion of an agreement, under negotiation, between the European Union and New Zealand on the exchange of personal data between the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and the New Zealand authorities competent for fighting serious crime and terrorism,

– having regard to Rule 105(1) and (4), and Rule 114(7) of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the recommendation of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (A9-0003/2023),

1. Gives its consent to the conclusion of the agreement;

2. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States and of New Zealand.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

 

This proposal concerns the request for approval of the Council Decision on the conclusion of a strategic cooperation agreement on the exchange of personal data between Europol and the authorities of New Zealand competent for preventing and fighting crime, including serious crime and terrorism, to which the Consent of the European Parliament is required.

The objective of the agreement is to enable the transfer of personal data, in order to strengthen the action of the competent authorities of the EU and New Zealand, as well as their cooperation with each other, with a view to preventing and combating crimes, including serious crime and terrorism, which are becoming increasingly transnational and even global phenomena, while ensuring adequate safeguards with regard to the full respect of fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals, including privacy and data protection, as recognised by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

As the European Union and New Zealand have been facing similar security challenges for a number of years, we believe that law enforcement cooperation in the areas of counter-terrorism, prevention and combating of organised crime and corruption, drug trafficking, cybercrime, money laundering, terrorist financing, and, illegal migration, can bring extensive benefits to both parties and it is in the interest of the European Union.

Overall, the rapporteur considers that the agreement reached is satisfactory, as it will allow the transfer of personal data between Europol and the competent authorities of New Zealand, while ensuring adequate privacy and data protection safeguards.

The rapporteur welcomes that the recommendations included in the European Parliament resolution adopted on 10 July 2022 (2020/2048(INI)) have been adequately taken into account, in particular with regard to the provisions on the scope of the Agreement, the principle of data retention limitation as well as the obligation to notify data subjects.

Moreover, the rapporteur would like to stress that New Zealand has well-established data protection legislation and an independent data protection authority.

Finally, it should be mentioned that the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has also confirmed, in its opinion on the Proposal for Council Decisions on the signing and conclusion of the Agreement, that “it may also be used as a model for future agreements on the exchange of personal data for law enforcement purposes”.

It is therefore recommended that the European Parliament give its consent to the conclusion of the agreement.

 

MINORITY POSITION

 

Pursuant to Rule 55(4) of the Rules of Procedure

Fabienne Keller (Renew Europe)

 

As a pro-European member of the European Parliament, convinced of the interest and importance of the cooperation between the EU and New Zealand to foster the fight against serious crime and terrorism, I fully support the European Commission's proposal for the conclusion of a new agreement on the exchange of personal data between Europol and the authorities of New Zealand competent for fighting serious crime and terrorism. In this sense, I supported the legislative report endorsing the conclusion of the agreement. Nevertheless, I would like to state that my support for this report, whose rapporteur is from ID Group, cannot in any way link us to this political group and the Eurosceptic positions it conveys, against which I firmly oppose.

PROCEDURE – COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

Title	Conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union, of the one part, and New Zealand, of the other part, on the exchange of personal data between the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and the authorities of New Zealand competent for fighting serious crime and terrorism
References	10092/2022 – C9-0288/2022 – 2022/0157(NLE)
Date of consultation or request for consent	18.7.2022
Committee responsible  Date announced in plenary	LIBE 12.9.2022
Rapporteurs  Date appointed	Annalisa Tardino 13.7.2022
Discussed in committee	16.6.2022	27.6.2022	25.10.2022
Date adopted	12.1.2023
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	50 3 1
Members present for the final vote	Abir Al-Sahlani, Vladimír Bilčík, Malin Björk, Vasile Blaga, Patrick Breyer, Joachim Stanisław Brudziński, Jorge Buxadé Villalba, Patricia Chagnon, Clare Daly, Lena Düpont, Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová, Laura Ferrara, Andrzej Halicki, Sophia in ‘t Veld, Patryk Jaki, Marina Kaljurand, Fabienne Keller, Łukasz Kohut, Moritz Körner, Alice Kuhnke, Jeroen Lenaers, Juan Fernando López Aguilar, Lukas Mandl, Erik Marquardt, Nadine Morano, Javier Moreno Sánchez, Maite Pagazaurtundúa, Paulo Rangel, Karlo Ressler, Isabel Santos, Sara Skyttedal, Vincenzo Sofo, Ramona Strugariu, Yana Toom, Milan Uhrík, Tom Vandendriessche, Elena Yoncheva
Substitutes present for the final vote	Loucas Fourlas, Beata Kempa, Ondřej Kovařík, Alessandra Mussolini, Sira Rego, Domènec Ruiz Devesa, Loránt Vincze, Petar Vitanov, Tomáš Zdechovský
Substitutes under Rule 209(7) present for the final vote	Asim Ademov, Gunnar Beck, Isabel Benjumea Benjumea, Marian-Jean Marinescu, René Repasi, Antonio Maria Rinaldi, Mounir Satouri, Jörgen Warborn
Date tabled	13.1.2023

 

 

FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

50	+
ECR	Joachim Stanisław Brudziński, Jorge Buxadé Villalba, Patryk Jaki, Beata Kempa, Vincenzo Sofo
ID	Gunnar Beck, Patricia Chagnon, Antonio Maria Rinaldi, Tom Vandendriessche
NI	Laura Ferrara
PPE	Asim Ademov, Isabel Benjumea Benjumea, Vladimír Bilčík, Vasile Blaga, Lena Düpont, Loucas Fourlas, Andrzej Halicki, Jeroen Lenaers, Lukas Mandl, Marian-Jean Marinescu, Nadine Morano, Alessandra Mussolini, Paulo Rangel, Karlo Ressler, Sara Skyttedal, Loránt Vincze, Jörgen Warborn, Tomáš Zdechovský
Renew	Abir Al-Sahlani, Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová, Sophia in 't Veld, Fabienne Keller, Moritz Körner, Ondřej Kovařík, Maite Pagazaurtundúa, Ramona Strugariu, Yana Toom
S&D	Marina Kaljurand, Łukasz Kohut, Juan Fernando López Aguilar, Javier Moreno Sánchez, René Repasi, Domènec Ruiz Devesa, Petar Vitanov, Elena Yoncheva
The Left	Malin Björk
Verts/ALE	Patrick Breyer, Alice Kuhnke, Erik Marquardt, Mounir Satouri

 

3	-
S&D	Isabel Santos
The Left	Clare Daly, Sira Rego

 

1	0
NI	Milan Uhrík

 

Key to symbols:

+ : in favour

- : against

0 : abstention

 

 

• [1] OJ C 371, 15.9.2021, p. 71.