Information exchange between law enforcement authorities of Member States

SUMMARY OF:

Directive (EU) 2023/977 on the exchange of information between the law enforcement authorities of Member States

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE DIRECTIVE?

It sets out European Union (EU) organisational and procedural rules to ensure an adequate and efficient exchange of information between the law enforcement authorities of EU Member States to prevent, detect or investigate criminal offences.

KEY POINTS

Scope

The directive lays out rules on:

the exchange of information between the single points of contact (SPOC) established or designated by the Member States;
the provision of information by law enforcement authorities of Member States;
the default channel of communication to be used for all exchanges of information;
the setting up or designation of and the organisation, tasks, composition and capabilities of each Member State’s SPOC.

The directive does not apply to such exchanges of information if they are specifically regulated by other EU laws.

Principles

All exchanges of information under the directive are subject to five principles which should be used when interpreting and applying it:

availability
equivalent access
confidentiality
data ownership
data reliability.

Directive (EU) 2016/680 sets out the EU rules on protecting personal data used by police and criminal justice authorities (summary).

Exchange of information

Member States should have a SPOC, operational at all times, responsible for coordinating and facilitating information exchange.
For urgent cases, the information requested should be made available within 8 hours if it is directly available to the SPOC and within 3 days if the SPOC can obtain it from public authorities or private parties.
For all other requests, the information should be made available within 7 days.
A Member State can refuse a request for information. However, these cases should be made as specific as possible and interpreted as narrowly as possible to ensure the information system functions effectively.
Europol is involved in the information exchanges, insofar as the criminal offences concerned by the information sought or exchanged falls under the scope of the objectives set out in Regulation (EU) 2016/794 (see summary), with only certain exceptions.

Secure Information Exchange Network Application

The Secure Information Exchange Network Application, managed by Europol, should be used by SPOC or Member State law enforcement authorities to send requests for information, to provide information pursuant to such requests or to provide information on their own initiative.

FROM WHEN DO THE RULES APPLY?

The directive has to be transposed into national law by 12 December 2024, and Member States must apply its provisions from that date. There is one exception, however: Member States must bring into force the rules necessary to comply with Article 13 by 12 June 2027.

BACKGROUND

For further information, see:

Information exchange (European Commission).

MAIN DOCUMENT

Directive (EU) 2023/977 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 2023 on the exchange of information between the law enforcement authorities of Member States and repealing Council Framework Decision 2006/960/JHA (OJ L 134, 22.5.2023, pp. 1–24).