UK: Europol to hold data on race, sexuality and politics
01 January 1996
A draft Regulation on "Work files for the purposes of Analysis" being discussed by the Council of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers would allow Europol to hold information on a person's race, sexuality and political opinions. Setting out the rules to be followed, under Article 10.1 of the Europol Convention, the Regulation, Article 4.3, enables Europol to hold information on:
3.1 Ethnic origin
3.2 Political views
3.3 Religious views
3.4 Information on health
3.5 Information on sexuality
This interpretation under the "assurance" given in Article 10 of the Convention which refers to the Council of Europe Recommendation R (87) 15 concerning data. The draft Regulation says this data can be "collected if they are necessary for the purposes of a specific data file". The effect will enable Europol to hold this data on "suspected" criminals, associates and others.
The draft Regulations, which itself has 15 Articles, extends the range of people, under Article 10 of the Convention, on whom data can by adding, in Article 3: "as well as other persons not listed here, but whose registration might be of interest for a specific analysis". Article 4 enables the holding of "other information suitable for identification". So too does Article 5
which speaks of holding data on "accusations", "suspicion of membership of a criminal organisation", "enterprises or organisations in communication with, or used by the suspect".
The data held is to be classified - "secret, confidential or of general interest" - and graded "according to the reliability of the information" (Article 8):
3.1 very reliable
3.2 relatively reliable
3.3 not very reliable (italics added)
The rules and Regulations being agreed by the Council of Ministers are not being given to the 15 EU parliaments as part of the ratification process for the Europol Convention.
Draft regulations regarding working databases for analysis, EUROPOL 74, 12.9.95 (Statewatch translation from German text).