The Prüm Convention (sometimes known as Schengen III Agreement[1]) is a treaty which was signed on 27 May 2005 by Germany, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, and Belgium in the town of Prüm in Germany. The treaty was based on an initiative by the then German Minister Otto Schily from mid-2003.[2]
Core elements of Prüm were picked up by Council Decision 2008/615/JHA on 23 June 2008.[3] The Prüm convention was joined later by Finland, Slovenia, Hungary, Norway, Estonia and Romania.
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The Convention was adopted so as to enable the signatories to exchange data regarding DNA, fingerprint and Vehicle Registration Data of concerned persons and to cooperate against terrorism. It also contains provisions for the deployment of armed sky marshals on flights between signatory states, joint police patrols, entry of (armed) police forces into the territory of another state for the prevention of immediate danger (hot pursuit), and cooperation in case of mass events or disasters. Furthermore, a police officer responsible for an operation in a state may, in principle, decide to what degree the police forces of the other states that were taking part in the operation could use their weapons or exercise other powers.
The Convention was adopted outside of the European Union framework (and its mechanism of Enhanced co-operation), but asserts that it is open for accession by any Member state of the European Union and that:
provisions of this Convention shall only apply in so far as they are compatible with European Union law ... [EU law] should take precedence in applying the relevant provisions of this Convention
— Convention on the stepping up of cross-border cooperation, particularly in combating terrorism, cross-border crime and illegal migration, Article 47
Additionally the text of the Convention and its annexes were circulated on 7 July 2005 between the delegations to the Council of the European Union.
Part of the Convention provisions, falling under the former third pillar of the EU, were later subsumed into the police and judicial cooperation provisions of European Union law by 2008 Council Decisions,[3] commonly referred to as the Prüm Decision. It provides for Law Enforcement Cooperation in criminal matters primarily related to exchange of Fingerprint, DNA (both on a hit no-hit basis) and Vehicle owner registration (direct access via the EUCARIS system) data. The data exchange provisions are to be implemented until 2012. The rest of the provisions of the Convention falling under the former third pillar are not yet adopted into the EU law.
The Convention is applied between:[4]
The following countries have applied to accede: