Regulation (EU) 2019/816 establishing a centralised system for the identification of Member States holding conviction information on third country nationals and stateless persons (ECRIS-TCN)

Summary:

Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 establishing a system by which the central authority of a Member State can find out promptly and efficiently which other Member States hold criminal records information on a third-country national (ECRIS-TCN).

Further information:

The European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) provides for an electronic exchange of criminal record information on a decentralised basis between Member States. The ECRIS system is operational since April 2012 and allows Member States' criminal records authorities to obtain complete information on previous convictions of an EU national from the Member State of that person's nationality.

Although it is possible to exchange information on convictions concerning third country nationals and stateless persons (TCN) through ECRIS, there is no procedure or mechanism in place to do so efficiently. As it transpires from the Commission's statistical report on the use of ECRIS, Member States are reluctant to use the current system for TCN.

One of the reasons for such low levels of usage with respect to TCN is the fact that Member States wishing to receive such information have to send 'blanket' requests to all Member States. The administrative burden caused by having to respond to 'blanket' requests has been identified as the most costly element (estimated at up to €78 million) of the ECRIS workflow, if Member States were to systematically send such requests.

As ECRIS is inefficient with regard to TCN, in practice, Member States often rely only on information stored in their own national criminal record registers. Thus, complete information on the criminal history of convicted TCN is not always available to courts, law enforcement authorities, and other entitled authorities.

Adoption of a new ECRIS-TCN Regulation to better protect the security of our citizens is one of the legislative priorities included in the Joint Declaration of the Commission, the Council and the European Parliament on the EU's legislative priorities for 2017, which mentions ECRIS specifically.

Official

EUR-Lex: COM(2017)344: Proposal for a Regulation establishing a centralised system for the identification of Member States holding conviction information on third country nationals and stateless persons (ECRIS-TCN) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2017:344:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2017)248: Commission Staff Working Document accompanying COM(2017)344 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2017:248:FIN

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