EncroChat
5.11.2020
Priority question for written answer P-006041/2020
to the Commission
Rule 138
Tomas Tobé (PPE)
Organised crime poses a serious threat to public order and to the safety of the European Union. The Member States must therefore respond to these criminals, who operate across borders, and combat them through harmonised legislation and closer cooperation.
The French authorities have managed to gain access to EncroChats’ servers and can share real-time information with other European crime preventing agencies. In Sweden, cooperation between French and Swedish police has prevented murders and drug deals, and has resulted in many criminal arrests.
However, administrative bureaucracy has hampered information from being shared quickly between authorities in different Member States. A Member State requesting information from the French authorities must now apply to Eurojust, and then have its request granted by a French Court. This course of action is preventing the Member States from cooperating in an effective manner in their efforts to stop organised crime in the EU.
- 1.What specific steps, including legislative proposals, is the Commission going to take in order to ensure more effective cooperation and information-sharing between the Member States?