Meer samenwerking tussen lidstaten om gegevens over pedofiele netwerken uit te wisselen (en)

On 13 October the Commission adopted and sent to the Council and the European Parliament a proposal for a decision designed to improve exchanges of information on criminal convictions. The flow of information on criminal convictions has become a priority at European Union level. Endorsed by the Extraordinary European Council on 25 and 26 March 2004 as part of the fight against terrorism, it was given further support at the Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting on 19 July 2004 following the Fourniret affair. This tragic case of paedophilia brought to light a number of significant deficiencies in the exchange of data between Member States on the criminal records of individuals, and the Commission undertook to pursue vigorous action to improve the existing machinery, putting forward short and medium-term legislative initiatives.

The proposal adopted by the Commission corresponds to the first part of that action. Its aim is to improve in the short term the existing machinery for exchanging information on criminal records originally set up under the 1959 European Convention on mutual judicial assistance in criminal matters. The proposal will help to speed up the transmission of information between national registers. It stipulates that if a Member State convicts a national of another Member State, it must immediately inform the Member State of nationality. It also creates an obligation to respond to requests within five days and to make use of model forms for requests and for replies, which will contribute to better mutual understanding of the information that is sent.

At the end of the year, the Commission will draw up more ambitious proposals on the setting-up of a computerised information exchange system for criminal convictions.