Transparency data

First meeting minutes: Specialised Committee on Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation, 19 October 2021

Updated 20 December 2023

EU UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement
First meeting of the Specialised Committee on Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation (LEJC)
Brussels and Virtual, 19 October 2021 | 14:30 to 16:30 CEST (Current time in Central European Time)
Minutes of the Meeting

Review of TCA implementation

• The Parties agreed that overall, implementation of the LECJ part of the TCA had gone well and that the agreement was operating effectively. The UK highlighted a small number of outstanding implementation issues in two EU Member States in relation to extradition and asset freezing and confiscation and noted the importance of having them resolved swiftly.

• Both Parties stressed the importance of respective authorities adhering to the timelines set in the agreement.

MLA standard form

• The Parties noted that it was a shared priority to work swiftly to develop a standard form for MLA requests, noting useful scoping discussions to date, the need for consulting respective experts and practitioners, and the intention to make swift progress.

Prum ex ante evaluation

• The Parties noted their agreement, through Decision 2021/1 of the Specialised Committee on 28 September, and as provided for in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, to a 9-month extension to the period during which the ex-ante evaluations of the UK’s DNA and fingerprint connections should be carried out, with a new deadline of 30 June 2022.

• The Parties noted receipt by the UK on 14 October of the EU questionnaires to start the process for evaluating the UK’s current DNA and fingerprint connections and the appointment on 13 October of the EU expert team who will visit the UK in the second half of November. The Parties recalled the commitment to take into account the previous UK evaluations during this process.

PNR report and assessment

• The Parties considered the report provided under Article 552(12) of the TCA and the UK’s assessment that the special circumstances referred to in Article 552(10) persist.

• They noted that the opinion of the UK supervisory authority included with the report of the independent administrative body (IAB) provided under Article 552(12) of the TCA was based only on the information contained in the report of the IAB. The UK indicated that in view of the unique situation arising as a result of COVID-19 the UK supervisory authority was prepared to provide a note to complement its opinion in November following a review of the operation of the interim period safeguards undertaken directly by the UK supervisory authority.

• The Partnership Council will decide on the extension of the interim period pursuant to Article 552(13).

Forward look to future meeting agendas

• The Parties agreed that a further meeting of the Specialised Committee should take place at an appropriate point in 2022 where it will further review the implementation of the TCA.

Annex 1: List of participants in the first meeting of the Specialised Committee on Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation (LEJC)

UK delegation (16)

• UK co-chair of the specialised committee on LEJC
• UK government Officials from Home Office and Cabinet Office Scottish Government Official
• Welsh government Official Northern Ireland Executive Official
• UK Mission to the European Union Officials

EU delegation (42)

• EU Co-Chairs of the Specialised Committee on LEJC
• European Commission Officials
• European External Action Service Official
• delegation of the European Union to the UK Official
• representatives of EU Member States