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EU: DNA databases keep growing

25 April 2016

A document published by the Council of the EU contains statistics for DNA, fingerprint and vehicle registration data exchanged between Member States's law enforcement authorities as part of the "Prüm" framework, set up in 2008.

The DNA database of every EU Member State increased in size over the course of 2015, except for Malta's.

The "Prüm" framework is based on two laws that mandate the interconnection of national databases and the easing of data exchange between law enforcement authorities.

For fingerprint and vehicle registration data the document provides an overview of requests made and "hits" (matches) found.

With regard to DNA, the number of DNA profiles held in national databases is also included.

Every national DNA database grew in size during the course of 2015, with the exception of Malta.

The number of DNA profiles held in the island state's database dropped from 449 at the beginning of 2015 to 14 by the end of the year.

See: Council of the European Union: Council Decision 2008/615/JHA of 23 June 2008 on the stepping up of cross-border cooperation, particularly in combating terrorism and cross-border-crime, Council Decision 2008/616/JHA of 23 June 2008 on the implementation of Council Decision 2008/615/JHA of 23 June 2008 on the stepping up of cross-border cooperation, particularly in combating terrorism and cross-border-crime ("Prüm Decisions") - statistics and reports on automated data exchange for 2015 (10 March 2016, 5129/16, pdf): "The General Secretariat provides herewith a compilation of statistics for 2015 concerning the automated exchange of DNA data, of dactyloscopic reference data [fingerprints] as well as of Vehicle Registration Data (VRD)."

For background, see: Analysis: “Complex, technologically fraught and expensive” - the problematic implementation of the Prüm Decision: "The implementation of the Prüm Treaty has been beset with technical and administrative problems with most Member States still unable to share data. Centralised EU bodies and working groups on information exchange have been created to speed up the implementation process and provide coordination and oversight."