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