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What it is

Rules for Spanish police to share information with other EU countries

BOE step 7 of 7 · Passed

It is a government bill. Introduced by the Government. It was introduced on 30 October 2009. Introduced by: Gobierno.

Official title: Government bill on the simplification of the exchange of information and intelligence between the security services of the Member States of the European Union.

Follow this law

Source: Congreso de los Diputados, file 121/000048· updated 11 Nov

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

  1. The law allows Spanish security services to exchange information and intelligence with the security services of other EU member states, both for criminal intelligence operations and for criminal investigations.
  2. Only police and customs authorities authorized under Spanish law to discover, prevent and investigate crimes count as competent security services. These include the State Law Enforcement Agencies, the police forces of the Autonomous Communities and the Customs Surveillance Service.
  3. When Spain requests information from another member state, it must use a form approved by the Minister of the Interior, state the factual reasons, and ask for no more information than needed. Information received may only be used for the purpose it was provided for, unless the sending state authorizes another use.
  4. When Spain receives requests, it must answer urgent ones within a maximum of eight hours if the information is in a database with direct access, and non-urgent ones within one week or fourteen days depending on the case. It may only refuse on grounds such as national security, risk to an ongoing investigation, or a disproportionate request.
  5. If access to the information requires judicial authorization in Spain, the service must request it from the competent court, which will generally be the Central Investigating Courts of the National Court (Audiencia Nacional), and the court must rule within the same deadlines the law sets for the security services.
  6. The exchange takes place through standard police and customs cooperation channels, respecting confidentiality and personal data protection. The law also applies to Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, and to states that join the Schengen acquis.

Who it affects

  • State Law Enforcement Agencies and police forces of the Autonomous Communities: They must request, receive and provide information following the deadlines, forms and limits of this law.
  • Customs Surveillance Service: It is designated as a competent security service for these exchanges.
  • Central Investigating Courts of the National Court (Audiencia Nacional): They authorize or deny access to information when judicial authorization is required.
  • Minister of the Interior: Approves the forms for requesting, transmitting and refusing information.

Words worth knowing

Inteligencia criminal (criminal intelligence)
Work of collecting, processing and analyzing information about crimes before an investigation, to find out whether crimes have been or may be committed.
Decisión Marco (Framework Decision)
A European Union rule that requires member states to adapt their laws to a common goal.
Acervo de Schengen (Schengen acquis)
The set of European Union rules on removing controls at internal borders and the related cooperation.
Remisión de oficio (automatic forwarding)
Sending information to another country without anyone having requested it first.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries

Where it stands

How far did it get?

It took 7 of 7 steps. It reached BOE, and today it is passed.

  1. Introduced30 October 2009Someone registers the text in the Congreso.
  2. Admitted10 November 2009The Bureau of the Congreso accepts it and, for a members’ bill, the plenary decides whether to consider it.
  3. Amendments13 November 2009Groups propose changes.
  4. Committee17 February 2010A committee goes through the text in detail.
  5. Plenaryno dateAll 350 deputies vote.
  6. Senate8 June 2010The Senate can pass it, amend it or veto it.
  7. BOE20 July 2010It is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and comes into force.
See the 8 official steps on a timeline
Dec 2009Mar 2010Jun 201011. 30 October 2009: Presentación22. 10 November 2009: Comisión de Interior Publicación desde 10/11/2009 hasta 13/11/200933. 10 November 2009: Calificación44. 13 November 2009: Comisión de Interior Enmiendas desde 13/11/2009 hasta 17/02/201055. 17 February 2010: Comisión de Interior Informe desde 17/02/2010 hasta 26/05/201066. 26 May 2010: Comisión de Interior Aprobación con competencia legislativa plena desde 26/05/2010 hasta 08/06/201077. 8 June 2010: Senado desde 08/06/2010 hasta 20/07/201088. 20 July 2010: Concluido - (Aprobado con modificaciones) desde 20/07/2010 hasta 21/09/2010

Was there a plenary vote?

We have no plenary vote linked to this law in the Congreso’s data.

What happens next

What happens now?

It is law, or will be once published in the BOE. It comes into force on the date its own text sets.

The same initiative in the other chamber:

Published in the BOE: Law 31/2010, of July 27, on the simplification of the exchange of information and intelligence between the security services of the Member States of the European Union.

Sources

Where does all this come from?

  • The data comes from the open files of the Congreso, the Senate and the BOE, unaltered.
  • Each deputy’s province is the one of their seat on the day of the vote.
  • We only say “passed” or “rejected” when the majority needed is certain; otherwise we say which side had more votes.

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