EU COUNTRIES TO SHARE INFORMATION ON CYBER CRIME

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001659

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KCRM EUN
SUBJECT: EU COUNTRIES TO SHARE INFORMATION ON CYBER CRIME

SUMMARY
--------------


1. EU Interior Ministers at their October 24 Justice and Home
Affairs (JHA) Council meeting in Luxembourg set up a European alert
platform for reporting offences on the Internet. The platform,
hosted by EUROPOL with 300,000 EUR funding from the EU budget, will
help cyber crime investigators in the EU Member States share
information, e.g. in the fight against child pornography. The
Council took stock of progress on the plan to use European passenger
name record (PNR) data for law enforcement purposes. French
Interior Minister/Council chair Alliot-Marie reported differences
but "rather on the pace than on the substance of the plan."
Ministers decided to enhance the effectiveness of operational
cooperation among law-enforcement departments of the Member States
in the area of internal security. They debated the EU's approach to
drug-trafficking in West Africa in preparation for the UN Office on
Drugs and Crime (UNODC) ministerial to take place in Praia, Capo
Verde, on October 28-29. Justice Ministers at the same Council
meeting decided to facilitate the recovery of maintenance allowances
within the EU and to set up a European Criminal Records Information
System (ECRIS) to ensure that information can be transmitted by
electronic means. Full text of the Council conclusions will be
published on the EU Council website (http://consilium.europa.eu).
END SUMMARY.

CYBER CRIME
--------------


2. French Interior Minister/Council chair Michhle Alliot-Marie
told a post-Council press conference ministers decided to set up a
European alert platform for reporting offences noted on the
Internet. Alliot-Marie stressed that cyber crime covers a wide
range of areas, including terrorism, trafficking and child sexual
abuse material. Commission Vice-President Jacques Barrot said
300,000 EUR would be made available for EUROPOL as the body best
placed to host the European alert platform, where reports on illicit
web content and other Internet related crimes made in the EU
countries would be pooled for crosschecking. The European platform
will help cyber crime investigators in EU Member States share
information and avoid the duplication of efforts, e.g. in the fight
against child pornography. The Commission will also make funding
available for those Member States who will need to adapt or set up
their national reporting systems for the purpose of the EUROPOL
platform. Barrot stressed that, in order for the European platform
to be fully effective, "Member States have to use it in the course
of their investigations." Alliot-Marie said the Council would
follow up in November with an action plan for the fight against
cyber crime.

PROGRESS TOWARD EUROPEAN PNR
--------------


3. The Council took stock of progress on the plan to use European
passenger name record (PNR) data for law enforcement purposes.
Rather than engaging into negotiations on the details of the
Commission proposal, the French Presidency has been conducting
consultations on basic questions raised by the initiative.
Alliot-Marie told the press conference that the consultations were
still ongoing and that another report would be presented to the
November JHA Council. She reported differences but "rather on the
pace of implementing a European PNR than on the substance of the
plan," offering no specific comment on the question of whether the
future European PNR should cover the intra-EU flights. Alliot-Marie
underlined the need to "take all sensitivities on board," including
the views of the European Parliament (EP - set to have a formal say
on the proposal under Lisbon Treaty rules). She stressed the "value
added" of a European PNR, noting that 60-80 percent of drug seizures
at the Orly airport (Paris) were happening thanks to passenger data.
The November report to the Council will address the cost/efficiency
ratio and the balance between the requirements of security and the
respect of individual freedoms. Alliot-Marie said she would soon
bring these questions before the EP.

COOPERATION AMONG LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES
--------------


4. Following on their informal meeting in Cannes in July 2008,
ministers adopted conclusions defining and giving substance to the
"principle of convergence" to enhance the effectiveness of actions
by EU Member States in the area of internal security. The
conclusions will be used as guiding principles for operational
cooperation among law-enforcement departments of the EU countries.
As an illustration of the principle, Belgium, France, Germany and
Luxembourg signed a agreement on the fringes of the Council meeting
on the creation of a police and customs cooperation center. Among
other purposes, the center will allow better follow-up of serious
traffic offenders.

DRUG TRAFFICKING IN WEST AFRICA

BRUSSELS 00001659 002 OF 002


--------------


5. Officials noted that West Africa has become a platform for
trafficking drugs from Latin America, which could, in the words of
Alliot-Marie, "further contribute to the destabilization of an
extremely fragile" part of the world. The French minister also
stressed the need to address the problem of drug trafficking in the
region as a potential source of financing of terrorist and criminal
activities. A senior French official referred to the shared view of
the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),ICPO-Interpol
and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) that 10
percent of the world's cocaine transits through the region. Between
2005 and 2007, seizures of cocaine from West Africa and destined for
Europe amounted to 33 tons. The Commission estimates that about 250
tons of cocaine enter the EU every year.


6. Alliot-Marie said the Council's discussions would shape the EU's
approach to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
ministerial conference to take place in Praia, Capo Verde, on
October 28-29. Barrot recalled that the EU already provides
financing to combat drug trafficking in Africa, including funding
through the 9th European Development Fund (financial instrument of
the Cotonou agreement) in Nigeria, Guinea Bissau, Ghana and Niger.


BODY SCANNERS
--------------


7. Barrot updated the Council on the issue of "body scanners" at EU
airports, which was the subject of a Commission proposal in
September that still requires adoption by the Council and European
Parliament. In reaction to sharp criticism from the European
Parliament, which voted overwhelmingly on October 23 to demand more
study before the EU authorizes airports to use machines that allow
security staff to see an outline of passengers' bodies beneath their
clothes, Barrot made it clear that such scanners would only be
proposed to passengers on a voluntary basis among other methods at
airport security checks. Alliot-Marie said she was personally in
favor of making use of the most advanced technological means in the
fight against terrorism and crime, arguing "terrorist and criminals
are always a step ahead on us." Alliot-Marie nevertheless
reiterated her concern to balance respect of citizens' rights with
the need to ensure collective security.

CRIMINAL RECORDS
--------------


8. With French Justice minister Rachida Dati in the chair, the
Council reached agreement in principle on a proposal to set up a
European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS). The European
Parliament gave a positive opinion on this proposal on October 9.
This is a follow-up to the Framework Decision on the exchange of
information from criminal records between EU Member States. The
ECRIS Decision aims in particular to ensure that information can be
transmitted by electronic means and lays down the conditions and
format for the exchange of data. Member States would be fully
responsible for the management of their own criminal records but
transfers of information would be facilitated by means of a common
data exchange format.

MAINTENANCE OBLIGATIONS
--------------


9. Ministers decided to facilitate the recovery of maintenance
allowances within the EU. Under a new piece of EU legislation, all
decisions concerning recovery of maintenance will be allowed to
circulate freely between Member States without any form of control
on the substance in the country of enforcement. The goal is to
abolish in this specific case the requirement for an exequatur
procedure, whereby judicial decisions in one Member State must be
formally recognized by the other in order to be enforced. EU
sources cited the growing number of couples separating as well as
the increased mobility of EU citizens as factors contributing to the
development of cross-border litigation over maintenance payments.

SILVERBERG