The committee adopted the report by José RIBEIRO E CASTRO (UEN, P) amending the proposal under the consultation procedure. The main amendments were as follows:
- all provisions in the proposed Decision should apply to Europol liaison officers as well as Member State liaison officers;
- the Decision should be more binding, in that Member States should not only have the freedom but should be obliged to agree that liaison officers will also look after the interests of one or more other Member States which have no liaison officer posted in a particular country or international organisation;
- in order to enhance cooperation in the fight against international crime, any request for information made by a Member State which does not have a liaison officer in a third country to a Member State which does should be forwarded immediately to the liaison officer in place; if the request is refused, the reasons for the refusal should be stated;
- Member States should notify the Council's General Secretariat of their annual planning in respect of their liaison officers, and the General Secretariat should keep Europol reliably informed;
- the Member States and Europol should draw up an annual report to be submitted to the General Secretariat of the Council and sent to the European Commission and to Parliament by 31 May each year;
- the Decision should be reviewed after two years;
- finally, all relevant rules concerning the protection of personal data should be observed.
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