FantasticSearch

1. Where necessary to achieve the objectives set out in Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2016/794, Europol shall, in accordance with that Regulation and this Regulation, have access to data which are stored by Member States in their national databases and police record indexes.

2. Europol queries performed with biometric data as a search criterion shall be carried out using the router.

3. Europol queries performed with vehicle registration data as a search criterion shall be carried out using Eucaris.

4. Europol queries performed with biographical data of suspects and convicted persons as referred to in Article 25 as a search criterion shall be carried out using EPRIS.

5. Europol shall conduct searches with data provided by third countries in accordance with paragraphs 1 to 4 of this Article only where necessary for carrying out its tasks for the purposes of Article 18(2), points (a) and (c), of Regulation (EU) 2016/794.

6. Where the procedures referred to in Article 6, 11 or 20 show a match between the data used for the search and data held in the national database of the requested Member State or Member States, Europol shall inform only the Member State or Member States involved. The requested Member State shall decide whether to return a set of core data via the router within 48 hours of all of the following conditions being met:

(a) a match as referred to in the first subparagraph has been manually confirmed by a qualified member of staff of Europol;

(b) a description of the facts and an indication of the underlying offence have been transmitted, using the common table of offence categories set out in an implementing act to be adopted pursuant to Article 11b(1), point (a), of Framework Decision 2009/315/JHA, by Europol in order to assess the proportionality of the request, including the seriousness of the offence for which a search was conducted, in accordance with the national law of the Member State which provides the set of core data;

(c) the name of the third country which provided the data has been transmitted. Where, under its national law, a Member State can provide a particular set of core data only after having obtained a judicial authorisation, that Member State may deviate from the time limit set out in the second subparagraph in so far as necessary for the purpose of obtaining such an authorisation. Where the confirmed match concerns identified data of a person, the set of core data referred to in the second subparagraph shall contain the following data to the extent that they are available:

(a) first name or names;

(b) family name or names;

(c) alias or aliases and previously used name or names;

(d) date of birth;

(e) nationality or nationalities;

(f) place and country of birth;

(g) gender;

(h) the date on which and the place where the biometric data were acquired;

(i) the criminal offence for which the biometric data were acquired;

(j) the criminal case number;

(k) the competent authority responsible for the criminal case. Where the confirmed match concerns unidentified data or traces, the set of core data referred to in the second subparagraph shall contain the following data to the extent that they are available:

(a) the date on which and the place where the biometric data were acquired;

(b) the criminal offence for which the biometric data were acquired;

(c) the criminal case number;

(d) the competent authority responsible for the criminal case. The return of core data by the requested Member State shall be subject to the decision of a human.

7. Europol’s use of information obtained from a query made in accordance with this Article, and from the exchange of a set of core data in accordance with paragraph 6, shall be subject to the consent of the Member State in whose database the match occurred. Where the Member State allows such information to be used, its handling by Europol shall be governed by Regulation (EU) 2016/794.