The Prüm Decisions
A debate on a motion relating to cross-border cooperation to tackle serious and organised crime is to be held on Tuesday 8 December 2015 in the main chamber. The debate will ask MPs to vote on whether the UK should opt back into the European Council Decisions, known as the Prüm Decisions, which relate to the sharing of DNA, fingerprint and vehicle registration information between European police forces.
In 2005, a number of EU Member States signed a treaty in Prüm, Germany. This treaty, which became known after the location of its signing, called for better cross-border cooperation, particularly in order to combat terrorism, serious organised crime and illegal immigration.
In 2008, much of the treaty was incorporated into European law through European Council Decisions 2008/615/JHA and 2008/616/JHA. However, the UK failed to successfully implement Prüm. In 2013, when the UK Government excercised its right to opt-out of all pre-Lisbon police and criminal law measures, the Prüm Decisions were included. The Prüm Decisions were not on the list of 35 measures the Government intended to opt back into in 2014.
The Government have now set out the case for the UK to opt back in to the Prüm Decisions. On 26 November 2015, the Home Office laid Command Paper 9149 before Parliament which sets out the business and implementation case for rejoining Prüm. The European Scrutiny Committee published an assessment on 4 December 2015.
The Prüm Decisions which Parliament will be asked to vote on are measures to allow the reciprocal searching of EU Member States' databases for:
- DNA profiles
- Fingerprints
- Vehicle registration information
This debate pack provides a short briefing on the Prüm Decisions, as well as information on previous debates in Parliament and some relevant Government documents and media articles.
Debate packs are intended to provide a summary or overview of the issues being debated and identify any relevant briefings including press and parliamentary material. A more detailed briefing may be prepared for a Member on request to the Library.