Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the UK can participate in Europol operational projects after the UK leaves the EU without an adequacy agreement for data sharing.

The Government has been clear that we want an ambitious future partnership with the EU that covers: mechanisms for rapid and secure data exchange, practical measures to support cross-border operational cooperation, and continued UK cooperation with EU law enforcement and criminal justice agencies.

As outlined in our White Paper of July 2018, , the UK is one of the biggest contributors of data, information and expertise to Europol. The White Paper also sets out our continued commitment to global data protection standards and proposes that the future relationship with the EU in this area should be based on adequacy.

However, in the event there is no agreement on data sharing at the point of exit there is existing precedent for third country participation in European Multidisciplinary Platform against Criminal Threats (EMPACT) priorities, which are projects to combat jointly prioritised crime threats. Whilst the involvement of non-EU partners should comply with the rules on exchanges of data as set out in the Europol Regulation, there is no requirement for these countries to have an adequacy finding from the European Commission.