EU: Police cooperation to be enhanced and SIS developed?
01 September 2000
Germany has called for the development of the EU's SIS (Schengen Information System) intelligence database. The proposal was made by Otto Schilly, German interior minister, in a statement to the informal Justice and Home Affairs Council in Marseille (28-29 July 2000). Schilly called for various areas of police cooperation to be enhanced, with the SIS singled out as a "particularly good candidate for improvement".
The minister praised existing police cooperation including Europol becoming operational (1 July 1999) and legislative proposals for a European Police Academy, the extension of the scope of cross-border surveillance and the exchange of DNA profiles. He also suggested that new areas could be explored, including mutual assistance in police matters, cross-border pursuit and "cross-border assistance afforded to prevent threats and the use of undercover agents".
The SIS is an intelligence database used by EU police forces and immigration authorities. It was created under the broad proviso of "maintain[ing] public order and security, including state security". The central SIS database holds intelligence data submitted by the 10 participating states relating to people wanted for arrest, extradition or in relation to criminal proceedings; persons under "discreet surveillance"; "aliens" to be refused entry at external borders; and stolen cars and other objects recorded in connection with criminal activity. The Amsterdam Treaty integrated the Schengen agreement and implementing provisions into the TEU/TEC legal framework, and enabled the UK and Ireland to "opt-in" to the SIS (It should be noted that because access to immigration-related intelligence is tied to the Schengen provisions on free movement - in which the UK and Ireland are not participating - they will not be able to access this data (see Statewatch, vol 9 no 5 & vol 10 no 3/4)). Denmark, Finland and Sweden are the other EU states not yet on-line.
The German delegation restated Schilly's proposals in a document for discussion in the EU's Article 36 Committee (the coordinators of EU policy on policing, internal security and customs cooperation). Organised crime and illegal immigration were the predictable justification for SIS development: to protect citizens against crime and to guarantee effective criminal prosecution and real protection against illegal immigration, there should be discussion as to whether other authorities and institutions should also have access to the SIS given that they must also make their contribution to internal security.
The authorities they suggested could have access to the SIS were: (i) "authorities which issue residence permits, such as aliens authorities or visa agencies in representations abroad"; (ii) "central credit approval authorities with CD-Roms containing SIS inventory of stolen bank documents"; (iii) vehicle registration authorities; (iv) Europol.
Figures on the operation and content of the SIS are hard to come by. In 1997 there were nearly 50,000 computer terminals with access to the SIS in just nine states. During 1997 some 15,000 people were matched to an SIS "alert", and on the 15 March 1998 the SIS held 8,826,856 records. Seven more states are set to participate in the SIS in the short to medium term. In addition to the five EU states not yet involved, Iceland and Norway can also join under the terms of the Amsterdam Treaty. Each state submits their relevant domestic intelligence data, so both the amount of information and the number of access points will greatly increase. The expansion of the EU will see another round of expansion for the SIS.
Calls for an increase in the functions of the system and the range of authorities which can access the data are well beyond the parameters governments said would be allowed when the SIS was conceived in the early 1980s.
Statement by Federal Minister Schilly at the informal Council in Marseilles on 28 and 29 July 2000 on the development of p