Az ülések szó szerinti jegyzőkönyve

2012. november 21., Szerda - Strasbourg

16. A javasolt adatvédelmi irányelv – a büntetőügyekben folytatott rendőrségi és igazságügyi együttműködés keretében feldolgozott személyes adatok (vita)

  Πρόεδρος. - Το επόμενο σημείο είναι η δήλωση της Επιτροπής σχετικά με την προτεινόμενη οδηγία περί προστασίας των δεδομένων - τα δεδομένα προσωπικού χαρακτήρα που τυγχάνουν επεξεργασίας στο πλαίσιο της αστυνομικής και δικαστικής συνεργασίας σε ποινικές υποθέσεις

  Maria Damanaki, Member of the Commission. − Mr President, the Commission presented the reform proposal for the EU data protection regime in January for two reasons: first, to ensure a high level of data protection for individuals as provided for in the treaties and second, to offer European businesses a future-proof and technologically neutral data protection regime.

We must now make rapid progress to reach agreement on the package on the table. In Parliament the progress has been particularly noticeable in the different working documents and draft reports prepared by the rapporteurs. For the Commission, progress means that the regulation and the directive continue to be negotiated as a package. The freedom and security of our European citizens are two sides of the same coin. These are two policy objectives that should be reached with the adoption of the proposals to reform the European Union rules on data protection.

As regards the personal data processed in the context of police and judicial cooperation, we currently have a multitude of rules and different legal instruments. The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty allows the establishment of a comprehensive data protection framework. We can ensure a high level of protection for individuals’ data whilst respecting the specific nature of the field of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. In particular, the revised EU data protection framework can now cover both cross-border and domestic processing of personal data. This would reduce differences between the legislation in Member States.

The status quo may not always facilitate the smooth exchange of information between Member States. The rules set by the pre-Lisbon Framework Decision that the proposed Directive aims to replace are limited to cross-border processing. In practice, police and law enforcement authorities may not have always distinguished between cross-border and domestic processing. It is not always feasible to draw this distinction in the daily work of a policeman or of a court. For instance, a single national database used in the law enforcement field may contain personal data that were both collected nationally and received from another Member State.

It would be inefficient to create two separate databases in such situations; it would also be inefficient to apply two different sets of data protection rules within a single database. The proposed directive aims to cover both domestic and cross-border processing. This has been a longstanding request from Parliament. The proposed directive also contains the same protection principles as those enshrined in the Regulation. This also echoes Parliament’s request to extend the application of the general data protection rules to the areas of police and judicial cooperation.

Key elements enshrined in the draft regulation are also introduced in the proposed directive, such as: data protection by design and by default; the appointment of data protection officers; the obligation to notify personal data breaches; and the extension of the powers of the Commission to adopt adequacy decisions for international transfers to third countries. These novelties emphasise the importance of robust protection rules in instruments allowing for data exchange. Let us never lose sight of the fact that the protection of personal data is a right enshrined in the Union’s Treaties and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

This is why the new data protection rules will have to be taken into account in sectoral instruments, in particular in the area of the former third pillar. Once a directive has entered into force the Commission, within three years, will have to review and possibly amend other acts adopted by the European Union which regulate the processing of personal data by law enforcement authorities.

  Seán Kelly, thar ceann an Ghrúpa PPE. – A Uachtaráin, tá áthas orm dhá nóiméad a bheith agam chun labhairt ar an ábhar an-tábhachtach seo, ábhar atá tábhachtach do gach aon saoránach agus do gach aon ghnó ní amháin san Aontas Eorpach ach sa domhan ar fad.

In 1995 we had a data protection directive, which was relevant for that particular time. Part of it dealt with the processing of personal data by the police and the judicial authorities. This was a framework decision. Over time, Parliament realised that this was becoming more and more outdated and called for a revision. It was never really effective, in some respects at least, because it dealt with cross-border processing, but not at national level by the police. It was also too loose, leading to a very wide range of interpretation at Member State level, the result being that some Member States had high data protection standards while others had very low ones. Of course the Commission had no implementing rules to ensure a common approach.

As the Commissioner pointed out, with the advent of the Lisbon Treaty – and obviously the development of the internet and the way the world has moved on since – it needs to be updated. Parliament itself would have preferred this single instrument but can live with the Commission’s proposals – a regulation and a directive. However, we are concerned about a number of aspects, particularly in relation to the lack of urgency at Council level to deal with the directive. There seems to be certain movement on the regulation, but not enough on the directive. I think for that reason we would ask the Council to bring forward a roadmap for how they are going to deal with it and also to ensure there is enough flexibility at Member State level not to have a dramatic rise in terms of standards in one and a dramatic drop in another. If we do that, we can make progress.

My final point is that I am pleased to say that the Irish Prime Minister approached me last Saturday week saying that during the Irish Presidency they would have this as one of their priorities.

(The speaker agreed to take a blue-card question under Rule 149(8))

  Silvia-Adriana Ţicău (S&D), Întrebare „cartonaşului albastru”. – Aş dori să îl întreb pe dl Kelly dacă în foaia de parcurs pe care o aşteaptă de la Consiliu va solicita să fie trecut şi următorul punct: modul în care noul pachet va influenţa acordurile internaţionale gen SWIFT sau registrul cu numele pasagerilor. Consider că este important să ştim modul în care prezentele şi viitoarele acorduri internaţionale de acest fel vor fi aliniate la noul pachet privind protecţia datelor.

  Seán Kelly (PPE), blue-card answer. – Yes, I think that is a very important point, because we have to have consistency right across the board. While I cannot predict what the Council is going to do, I think it is important that we take all these matters into consideration, and particularly that the Council should show some urgency regarding this matter so that we can get it completed, particularly during this mandate. I fear that if it is not completed by the end of next year, with elections pending in 2014, it might be very difficult to make much progress if there is too much left to be done in 2014.

  Δημήτριος Δρούτσας, εξ ονόματος της ομάδας S&D. – Κύριε Πρόεδρε, ευχαριστώ πολύ την κ. Επίτροπο για την παρουσία της στο Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο και για τη σημερινή της δήλωση. Είναι αυτονόητο, κατά τη γνώμη μου, και συμφωνούμε όλοι ότι το θέμα της προστασίας των προσωπικών δεδομένων των πολιτών της Ευρώπης είναι εξαιρετικά μεγάλης σημασίας και επιβάλλει σε όλους μας την απαραίτητη σοβαρότητα και προσοχή. Επιθυμώ να τονίσω, για μία ακόμη φορά, ότι εμείς εδώ στο Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο αποδίδουμε ακριβώς μεγάλη σημασία σε αυτό το θέμα. Για τον λόγο αυτό, το Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο είναι και θα συνεχίσει να είναι ιδιαιτέρως αυστηρό και απαιτητικό απέναντι στα υπόλοιπα θεσμικά όργανα της Ένωσης επ' αυτού. Όπως γνωρίζετε κυρία Επίτροπε, το Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο επιθυμούσε από την αρχή ένα και μοναδικό νομοθετικό εργαλείο, έναν κανονισμό που θα κάλυπτε όλες τις πτυχές και όλους τους τομείς της προστασίας προσωπικών δεδομένων και τούτο για να αντιμετωπίζονται ισότιμα ο δημόσιος και ο ιδιωτικός τομέας και παράλληλα για να συμπεριληφθούν σε αυτόν και περιπτώσεις επεξεργασίας προσωπικών δεδομένων από τις δικαστικές και αστυνομικές αρχές. Δυστυχώς, η επιθυμία μας αυτή δεν έγινε σεβαστή, με αποτέλεσμα σήμερα να πρέπει να διαχειριστούμε τις προτάσεις για κανονισμό και για οδηγία. Το Κοινοβούλιο καλωσόρισε μεν τις προτάσεις της Επιτροπής αλλά αποφασίσαμε δε να τις θεωρήσουμε και να τις αντιμετωπίσουμε ως ένα, ενιαίο, νομοθετικό πακέτο, τόσο σε πρακτικό επίπεδο όσο και σε επίπεδο ουσίας. Θέλω να τονίσω ότι δεν μπορεί να υπάρξει κανονισμός χωρίς οδηγία κατά τη γνώμη μας. Θα επιμείνουμε στη λογική του πακέτου προκειμένου να εξασφαλιστεί η συνοχή και η ασφάλεια δικαίου. Κυρία Επίτροπε, χαίρομαι διότι με την σημερινή παρέμβασή σας επιβεβαιώσατε για άλλη μια φορά ότι και η Επιτροπή βλέπει και αντιμετωπίζει κανονισμό και οδηγία ως ένα πακέτο. Θέλω να πιστέψετε ότι από την Επιτροπή δεν έχουμε παράπονο. Τουναντίον, η συνεργασία με την Επιτροπή είναι σε εξαιρετικό επίπεδο και το επισημαίνω χωρίς κανένα δισταγμό από τούτο το βήμα για να σας εκφράσω τις ευχαριστίες μου σχετικά. Δυστυχώς, δεν μπορώ να πω το ίδιο και για το Συμβούλιο. Διερωτώμαι γιατί απουσιάζει το Συμβούλιο από την σημερινή συζήτηση. Γιατί δεν βρίσκεται σήμερα το Συμβούλιο εδώ προκειμένου να απαντήσει στην προφορική ερώτηση που θέσαμε; Επιτρέψτε μου να πω ότι το γεγονός αυτό δεν αποτελεί μόνο ένδειξη ασέβειας απέναντι στο θεσμό του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου αλλά αφήνει επίσης να εννοηθεί, όπως αισθάνομαι αναγκασμένος να συμπεράνω, ότι το Συμβούλιο δεν αποδίδει την απαραίτητη σημασία σε αυτό το τόσο σημαντικό θέμα για τους ευρωπαίους πολίτες. Δυστυχώς το Συμβούλιο καθυστερεί στις εργασίες του σχετικά με την οδηγία. Αναρωτιέμαι - νομίζω εύλογα - για ποιο λόγο το Συμβούλιο αρνείται, όπως δείχνει με αυτήν την στάση του, να συνεργαστεί. Επιτρέψτε μου, κύριε Πρόεδρε, να ολοκληρώσω τονίζοντας ότι το Ευρωπαϊκό Κοινοβούλιο θα υπερασπιστεί τις θέσεις του με κάθε μέσο που κρίνει απαραίτητο και κατάλληλο. Στόχος είναι να ολοκληρωθούν οι διαδικασίες και να τεθούν σε εφαρμογή ο κανονισμός και η οδηγία ως πακέτο, για την παροχή στους ευρωπαίους πολίτες υψηλού επιπέδου προστασίας των προσωπικών δεδομένων τους.

  Sophia in 't Veld, on behalf of the ALDE Group. – Mr President, for those of you who have been following the presidential election campaign in the USA, you know what I am referring to when I say I feel a little bit like Clint Eastwood, talking to an empty chair, because once again, the Council is absent.

As my colleagues have already outlined, this House will stick to the package approach, keeping the regulation and the directive together. But I would like to add one element and that is that the directive for us is a precondition for further police and justice cooperation and that is something that the Council should understand because the Council too has wishes. It wants to proceed as we do in the area of police and justice cooperation. But how can police and justice exchange data if there is no adequate data protection?

So I would strongly advise the absent Council to proceed quickly with the directive and I would like to go a little bit further than my colleagues; instead of a roadmap let us aim for results and quick results. If the Council wants us to adopt further measures in the area of police and justice cooperation, I can think of a few interesting dossiers: EU PNR, investigation order and what have you. They had better speed up their work on the directive.

I would also like to remind the Council that the predecessor of the directive, the framework decision which is currently in force, was actually voted down by this House. Unfortunately, that was pre-Lisbon. But we do not consider that the current framework decision is adequate, so whatever the Council comes up with, it will have to be a good deal better than what is currently in force.

Secondly, we will work very hard to align the directive with the regulation because we are disappointed that there are two instruments rather than one and we will work very hard to try and ensure a single harmonised level of data protection for all use of personal data.

Finally colleagues, coming back to my reference to Clint Eastwood, I would like to say the following to the Council, as Clint Eastwood said in his role as Dirty Harry when a criminal was trying to defy him: ‘you have to ask yourself one question: do I feel lucky?’

Council, will you defy Parliament? That is the question.

  Jan Philipp Albrecht, im Namen der Verts/ALE-Fraktion. – Herr Präsident! Wir diskutieren hier und heute nicht nur über den Datenschutz. Wir reden über die Zukunft der Zusammenarbeit von Polizei und Justiz in Europa. Seit Jahren treiben die Innenminister die grenzübergreifende Kooperation der Strafverfolgungsbehörden voran. Grundsätzlich ist das nicht falsch, sondern notwendig! In all diesen Jahren hat das Europäische Parlament aber wiederholt angemahnt, dass gemeinsame Standards für Rechtsstaat und Grundrechtsschutz dabei unverzichtbar sind. Doch die hier leider abwesenden Innenminister unserer 27 Regierungen setzen sich über diese Forderungen noch immer hinweg. Stattdessen treiben sie mit dem Prinzip der gegenseitigen Anerkennung von Polizeimaßnahmen das nahezu blinde Vertrauen in die Rechtsordnung der EU-Staaten voran. Sie ignorieren damit, dass es noch immer dramatische Unterschiede bei den Standards in den Mitgliedstaaten gibt, und zwar auch und gerade beim Datenschutz.

Der vorliegende Entwurf für eine Richtlinie über den polizeilichen Datenschutz in Europa soll diesen Missstand nun endlich beseitigen. Er ist wahrlich kein großer Wurf für die Rechte der Betroffenen, aber er wäre ein wichtiger erster Schritt, das gefährliche race to the bottom beim polizeilichen Datenschutz zu beenden. Durch den immer weiter fortschreitenden Informationsaustausch ist die Gefahr massiver Grundrechtsverletzungen allgegenwärtig. Trotzdem weigert sich der Ministerrat, aktiv und zügig an der Gestaltung der Datenschutzrichtlinie mitzuarbeiten.

So werden die Menschen die Legitimität weiterer Maßnahmen zur EU-weiten polizeilichen Zusammenarbeit zunehmend in Frage stellen. Wir brauchen gemeinsame Mindeststandards um die verstärkte Zusammenarbeit von Polizei und Justiz voranzubringen.

  Timothy Kirkhope, on behalf of the ECR Group. – Mr President, speaking as rapporteur for the EU PNR agreement and as a shadow on a number of other European policing measures, I see this directive as essential in increasing the confidence of European citizens in the work that law enforcement agencies carry out.

It is only through applying the highest standards to policing and justice that we create a democracy which has the faith and trust of all its citizens. Therefore I hope this directive achieves two main goals: that of protecting civil liberties and lives, but also that of creating mechanisms which allow for the safe exchange of law enforcement data. In order to address the needs of such a system, I believe that a common-sense approach is the best way forward. But certainly I would stress to other Members of this House that this directive cannot be a solution for everything and every other law enforcement measure, current or future. We must lose no time in pressing forward with our work and it is our duty to protect European citizens as a result.

  Cornelia Ernst, im Namen der GUE/NGL-Fraktion. – Herr Präsident! Meine Damen und Herren des nicht anwesenden Rates! Vielleicht verfolgen Sie uns im Videostream des Parlaments, da Sie offensichtlich weder Kapazität noch Lust haben, live mit uns zu reden. Ich betrachte die Nichtanwesenheit des Rates hier und heute als grobe Missachtung des Parlaments. Statt sich um diese Debatte zu drücken, sollten Sie lieber Ihr Geheimnis lüften, weshalb Sie sich jedweder Verbesserung des Schutzes personenbezogener Daten im Bereich Polizei und Justiz über eine Richtlinie verweigern.

Polizei und Justiz sind seit Jahren – das wissen wir – ein Eldorado von Verletzungen im Datenschutzbereich, nicht nur bei SWIFT, sondern zum Beispiel tagtäglich, indem Daten von Bürgern, die zum Beispiel gegen Nazis demonstrieren, unrechtmäßig erfasst und gespeichert werden. Wir brauchen für den öffentlichen und den privaten Bereich und für Polizei und Justiz gleiche Schutzstandards, um Bürgerrechte garantieren zu können. Wenn Sie, der Rat, vom Parlament verlangen, an datenschutzrelevanten Verordnungen wie EU-PNA oder Europol konstruktiv mitzuwirken, dann muss das wohl umgekehrt auch für den Rat gelten. Deswegen fordere ich: Machen Sie endlich Schluss mit der Blockadepolitik im Datenschutzbereich!

  Maria Damanaki, Member of the Commission. − Mr President, I would like to thank all the speakers for their support of the Commission’s proposals.

I would like to refer again to two main points. Firstly, I would like to reconfirm that, for the Commission, progress on this very important issue means that we are going to negotiate both the regulation and the directive as a package. We really mean it. We have gone through two pieces of legislation, in spite of Parliament’s request, but now we have to focus on the procedure. I would like to confirm to everybody that we are going to insist on that. We are going to negotiate both pieces of legislation as a package.

The second point I would like to stress is that we are going to do our best in order to ensure that the new legislation – the new post-Lisbon legislation on data protection – will be taken into account in terms of all the agreements and proposals that have some relevance to this data protection issue. I think that everybody here understands that this is a major issue, because it refers to human rights; it refers to the basic principles set out in the treaties which, in one way or another, have to guide our decisions.

I know that an impasse has been reached. We would like to overcome it. I would like to say that the Commission is here and that it is really very willing to cooperate in order to overcome the difficulties both with the Council and with Parliament. Of course, we will welcome any initiatives by the Irish Presidency if it, on behalf of the Council, of course, would like to overcome the impasse.

  Πρόεδρος. - Η συζήτηση έληξε.