Proposal to open negotiations on the Commission recommendation for a Council decision authorising the opening of negotiations for an agreement between the EU and Lebanon on the exchange of personal data between Europol and the Lebanese competent authorities for fighting serious crime and terrorism

The European Parliament adopted by 536 votes to 99, with 34 abstentions, a resolution on the Commission recommendation for a Council decision authorising the opening of negotiations for an agreement between the European Union and the Lebanese Republic on the exchange of personal data between the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and the Lebanese competent authorities for fighting serious crime and terrorism.

Assessing the risks: Parliament considered that the necessity of the cooperation with Lebanon in the field of law enforcement for the European Union’s security interests, as well as its proportionality, needs to be properly assessed and called on the Commission, in this context, to conduct a thorough impact assessment. Members considered that due caution is needed while defining the negotiating mandate for an EU-Lebanon agreement. They called on the Commission to carry out an appropriate impact assessment so as to define the necessary safeguards to be integrated in the agreement.

Ensuring equivalent protection: full consistency with Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and with the other fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in the Charter should be fully ensured in the receiving third country to which it is addressed. Parliament insisted that the level of protection resulting from the agreement should be essentially equivalent to the level of protection in EU law. If such level cannot be guaranteed both in law and in practice, the agreement cannot be concluded.

In particular, the Agreement shall contain:

• strict and specific provisions imposing respect for the principle of purpose limitation with clear conditions for the processing of personal data transmitted;
• a clear and precise provision setting out the data retention period of personal data that have been transferred and requiring the erasure of the personal data transferred at the end of the data retention period;
• data subjects’ right to information, rectification and erasure as provided for in other Union legislation on data protection;
• a clear definition of the categories of offences for which personal data shall be exchanged;
• a clear reference to the name of the independent supervisory authority in charge of supervising the implementation of the international agreement;
• a monitoring mechanism to be subject to periodic assessments.

Members insisted on the need to:

• expressly indicate that onward transfers of information from the competent authorities of Lebanon to other authorities in Lebanon can only be allowed to fulfil the original purpose of the transfer by Europol and should always be communicated to the independent authority, the EDPS and Europol. To this end, an exhaustive list of the competent authorities in Lebanon to which Europol can transfer data should be drawn up. Any modification to such a list that would replace or add a new competent authority would require a review of the international agreement;
• expressly indicate that onward transfers of information from the competent authorities of Lebanon to other countries are prohibited and would result in the immediate ending of the international agreement.

Sensitive data: taking into account Lebanon's different societal characteristics and cultural background compared to the EU and the fact that criminal acts are defined differently in the EU than in Lebanon, Parliament considered that the transfer of personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic data or data concerning a person’s health and sex life should only take place in very exceptional cases and be subject to clear safeguards for the data subject and persons linked to the data subject.

Lastly, the resolution stressed that the European Parliament’s consent to the conclusion of the agreement shall be conditional upon satisfactory involvement of the European Parliament at all stages of the procedure.