EURODAC

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EURODAC
Url - (not public)
providers European Commission (Central Unit AFIS)
languages
Content Fingerprints of asylum seekers and foreigners

EURODAC (European Dactyloscopy ) is a fingerprint identification system for comparing the fingerprint data of all asylum seekers as well as of certain third-country nationals and stateless persons if the persons concerned are older than 14 years. The data comparison is intended to prevent people from being able to apply for asylum in several EU member states . Under certain conditions, fingerprint data can be compared with Eurodac data in order to prevent, detect and investigate terrorist or other serious crimes . EURODAC was launched on January 15, 2003.

EURODAC in the context of European asylum policy

Five different acts of the European Union make up the core of the European Common Asylum System : the Dublin Convention of the EU countries, the revision of the Asylum Procedures Directive , the recast of the Qualification Directive , the recast of the Reception Conditions Directive and the EURODAC regulations.

Legal bases

The legal basis is Regulation (EU) No. 603/2013 (Eurodac Regulation) of June 26, 2013 on the establishment of the EURODAC database for the comparison of fingerprint data for the purpose of the effective application of Regulation (EU) No. 604/2013 . This EU regulation lays down the criteria and procedures for determining the Member State of the European Union (EU) that is responsible for examining an application for international protection submitted by a third-country national or stateless person in an EU member state . The application of Regulation (EU) No. 604/2013 is to be facilitated by the Eurodac system, which was set up by Regulation (EU) No. 603/2013.

EURODAC was introduced on the basis of Regulation (EC) No. 2725/2000 of December 11, 2000 for the purpose of effective application of the Dublin Convention . The old version of the Eurodac regulation said:

“For the purposes of the application of the Dublin Convention, it is necessary to establish the identity of asylum seekers and persons apprehended in connection with the illegal crossing of the Community's external borders. In order to effectively apply the Dublin Convention, in particular Article 10 (1) (c) and (e), each Member State should also be able to check whether a foreigner who is staying illegally on its territory has applied for asylum in another Member State. "

- Council of the European Union : Regulation (EC) No. 2725/2000 (preamble 3)

scope of application

The application of the Eurodac Regulation is intended to prevent an asylum seeker from being able to pursue an asylum procedure in several Member States at the same time or one after the other. Under certain conditions, however, fingerprint data can also be compared with Eurodac data in order to prevent, detect and investigate terrorist or other serious crimes.

Group of people

Fingerprints are taken from all asylum seekers as well as from third-country nationals and stateless persons who are found illegally crossing an external border of an EU member state or who are staying illegally on the territory of an EU member state . The fingerprint data are transmitted to a central system.

restrictions

  • Fingerprints are only required to be taken from people who are at least 14 years old.
  • Fingerprints are taken from all ten fingers.
  • Convictions or searches are not registered.

System access

Authorities responsible for internal security can, in precisely defined cases, have access to EURODAC if there is reasonable suspicion that the perpetrator of a terrorist offense or other serious criminal offense has applied for asylum .

technical structure

The fingerprint identification system EURODAC consists of an automated database for fingerprint data and electronic facilities for data transfer between the EU member states and a central system known as the "communication infrastructure".

The responsibility is shared. The Commission is responsible for the central unit (preamble 5, Art. 3 Eurodac Regulation), the member states for the processing and transmission of the data (cf. Art. 13 ff. Eurodac Regulation).

The European Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of ​​Freedom, Security and Justice ( EU-LISA ) was entrusted with the operational management of EURODAC and certain infrastructural tasks . The agency was set up on the basis of Regulation (EU) No. 1077/2011 and is based in the Estonian capital Tallinn . It started work on December 1, 2012.

The central unit - the automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS) - is located in a data center in the EU building in Luxembourg . All fingerprint data is stored in it. This can be accessed using a hit / no-hit procedure .

The fingerprint identification system was developed by the French IT service provider Steria and is based on hardware from the computer company Bull and biometric systems from Cogent Systems . The central database was to manage two million immigration and asylum applications by 2004. The query speed is given as 500,000 comparisons per second, the accuracy of hits as 99.9%.

Procedural principles

When working with the pan-European fingerprint identification system EURODAC, certain procedural principles must be adhered to when registering, transmitting, storing and comparing fingerprint data. These are set out in the Eurodac regulation.

The entering state ( home member state ) transfers the following data to the central fingerprint database ( central system ) of EURODAC and stores it there:

  • Fingerprint data
  • Home Member State and place and time of application for international protection
  • Gender of the applicant
  • identification number used by the home Member State
  • Time at which the fingerprints were taken
  • Time of transmission of the data to the central system
  • User password

The central system stores this data in turn under an identification number and stating the country entering it. The name and address of the person concerned remain known only to the country making the entry.

After transfers, repatriations or deportations, the data already available in the central system must be updated by the responsible EU member states.

In the case of fingerprint data from asylum seekers (cf. Art. 4 ff. Eurodac Regulation), this data is compared directly by the central unit with existing data and, if a hit is found, the data is communicated to the member state. The data will i. d. Usually deleted after ten years; premature deletion takes place if the data subject has obtained the citizenship of a member state.

In the case of fingerprint data from foreigners who were found illegally crossing an external border (cf. Art. 14 ff. Eurodac Regulation), they are only saved for comparison with data about asylum seekers arriving later. Otherwise there is no comparison. This data is automatically deleted after two years.

In the case of fingerprint data of a foreigner staying illegally in a member state (cf. Art. 17 ff. Eurodac Regulation), the transmission is left to the discretion of the member state. A comparison is not made with data from the same group. The data will be deleted when the results of the comparison have been transmitted to the Member States.

In the course of the refugee crisis in Germany from 2015 onwards, considerable problems with the registration and comparison of fingerprints became apparent.

privacy

On the Eurodac Regulation, the Data Protection Directive 95/46 / EC which is applicable from 24 October 1995. Furthermore, protects at European level Art. 8 I European Human Rights (ECHR) , the processing of personal data, and in Germany, for the right to informational self-determination of Art. 2 I, 1 I Basic Law. According to the requirements of the directive, the purpose of the Eurodac Regulation is closely related to the Dublin Convention.

Furthermore, an independent supervisory authority is required at the national level; in Germany this is the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information .

Every person concerned has the right to be informed about the storage of their data and, if necessary, to the deletion of incorrectly stored data. However, only the respective state has the right to deletion, even if the application can be made in any Member State (Art. 18 ff. Eurodac Regulation).

In Germany, fingerprinting is based on Section 81b of the Code of Criminal Procedure .

Expansion plans

According to a draft of the reform of the Eurodac regulation published by the EU Commission in May 2016, in addition to fingerprints, facial images and biometric data are to be collected from children aged six and over. The reason for the proposed reform is that young children not only come to the EU with their parents, but are also sent alone and that there is currently no means of identifying them. For the first time, the biometric characteristics of illegally entered third-party nationals are to be recorded, which are only picked up on the territory of the Member States. The technical face recognition should be upgraded as soon as possible and data should continue to be stored for up to ten years, but the access options for criminal prosecutors in refugees should initially be limited to three years. For the first time, information from Eurodac is to be shared with third countries . This is to ensure that illegal migrants can be identified and returned to their countries of origin. The European Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of ​​freedom, security and justice (EU Lisa) is to take over the financial and operational management for the large IT project, which is estimated at 30 million euros. The aim of the project is to build a biometric super database with a "core system" for fingerprints and facial images - also from other files. However, the draft for the reform of the Eurodac regulation of the EU Commission of May 6, 2016 did not go far enough for the European Council and should therefore be tightened significantly. It is envisaged that EU states may also use coercive measures if third-party foreigners who have entered illegally do not voluntarily provide biometric data.

See also

literature

  • Birgit Schröder: The EURODAC fingerprint system. ZAR 2001, p. 71 ff.
  • Michael Funke-Kaiser: European law in the German administrative process (20): Asylum and refugee law (1st part). VBlBW 2002, p. 409 ff.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b EU launches fingerprint database for asylum seekers. heise online , January 15, 2003
  2. ↑ Proceedings against 19 EU states due to insufficient implementation of the asylum law . juris . 23rd September 2015.
  3. ↑ Regulation (EU) No. 603/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council of June 26, 2013 . EUR-Lex - Document 32013R0603.
  4. ↑ See: Directive 2004/83 / EC: Requirements for recognition as a refugee or as a person who otherwise needs international protection . In accordance with the general provisions of the directive, this defines minimum standards for granting refugee or subsidiary protection status to nationals of non-EU countries and stateless persons . In addition, it defines the content of the protection granted to them. (Retrieved from EUR-Lex on November 17, 2015). The revised version of Directive 2004/83 / EC is Directive 2011/95 / EU (Qualification Directive) .
  5. ↑ Regulation (EU) No. 604/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council of June 26, 2013 . EUR-Lex - Document 32013R0604.
  6. ↑ Regulation (EU) No. 604/2013 (preamble 30)
  7. ↑ Regulation (EC) No. 2725/2000 of the Council of 11 December 2000 on the establishment of "Eurodac" for the comparison of fingerprints for the purpose of the effective application of the Dublin Convention . EUR-Lex - Document 32000R2725.
  8. ↑ "In inquiries [2018], according to a report by the EU Commission in mid-September, the authorities found 8343 hits within just one week for people who had previously been registered in another EU country." - Manuel Bewarder , Christoph B. Schiltz: Illegal migration to Germany is apparently underestimated
  9. ↑ Regulation (EU) No. 603/2013 (Preamble 17; Article 14).
  10. ↑ Regulation (EU) No. 603/2013 (Article 14).
  11. ↑ Ministry of the Interior: Suspect from Freiburg since 2013 in the EU asylum database. Epoch Times , December 16, 2016, accessed December 21, 2016 .
  12. ↑ Regulation (EU) No. 603/2013 (Paragraph 10)
  13. ↑ Regulation (EU) No. 603/2013 (preamble 6)
  14. ↑ Regulation (EU) No. 603/2013 (preamble 19, 25)
  15. ↑ Regulation (EU) No. 603/2013 (Article 2 Paragraph 1 b) - Member State of origin )
  16. ↑ Regulation (EU) No. 603/2013 (Article 3 Paragraph 1 a) - Structure of the system and basic principles
  17. ↑ See Regulation (EU) No. 603/2013 (Article 11 - data storage and Article 14 - recording and transmission of fingerprint data )
  18. ↑ See: Directive 2004/83 / EC: Requirements for recognition as a refugee or as a person who otherwise needs international protection . In accordance with the general provisions of the directive, it defines minimum standards for granting refugee status or subsidiary protection status to nationals of non-EU countries and stateless persons . In addition, it defines the content of the protection granted to them. (Retrieved from EUR-Lex on November 17, 2015). The revised version of Directive 2004/83 / EC is Directive 2011/95 / EU (Qualification Directive) .
  19. ↑ See Regulation (EU) No. 603/2013 (Article 2 Paragraph 1 b) and Article 10)
  20. ↑ Draft for the reform of EU regulation No 604/2013 (Eurodac regulation).
  21. ↑ European Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Field of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA), official website of the European Union.
  22. ↑ EU should save facial images of refugees and biometric data of children. Heise online , May 6, 2016.
  23. ↑ Eurodac: EU authorities should be able to force refugees to give fingerprints. Heise online , December 7, 2016.