Taking Stock: Databases and Systems of Information Exchange in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice

By Florian Geyer

[aei.pitt.edu] Exchange
of information in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, using new
technologies like biometric identifiers and creating large-scale
centralised EU databases is a highly topical, yet equally controversial
issue. A number of EU databases and systems of information exchange are
already in place, others will soon become operational. In spite of
this, proposals for new measures and mechanisms are frequently tabled;
it appears as if the EU is only at the beginning of a ‘new age of
information exchange’. This working paper aims at taking stock of this
development by providing a comparative picture of existing JHA
databases and rules on information exchange in the EU, as well as some
of the main proposals in this field. The paper also looks at how some
databases are used in practice and puts forward some suggestions as to
how to alleviate concern about data protection. (Download pdf)