Rasterfahndung at European level?

Germany proposes to EU to conduct computerized searches for terrorists on European level

Germany has tabled a proposal in the European Union to make it possible to conduct at a European level. That is the only way to effectively combat terrorism, according to the German proposal.

The German proposal that has been introduced at the beginning of March in the highest civil servant committee of the European Union's police and judicial cooperation pillar pledges for the introduction on an European scale of computerised profile searches. That is the German system of Rasterfahndung, first introduced in the seventies to combat the RAF, and lately conducted in the haunt of suspects of the September 11th attacks and so called 'sleepers' in Germany.

In the initial phase of Rasterfahndung, individual features of 'known trouble-makers or perpetrators' are identified on the basis of available information concerning personal characteristics or typical behaviour, and are combined to build up an overall picture - the profile.

In the subsequent phase, selected data kept by public and private bodies are compared by computer with the characteristics thus identified. Such data may include data from employers, telephone, electricity and gas suppliers and resident's registration authorities.

The computerised process results in a list of persons whose profile matches the features previously identified. 'The persons thus identified will then be subjected to a thorough police examination in order to establish whether they are perpetrators or persons posing a threat to public safety,' the German delegation states.

According to Germany, 'computerised profile searches both for criminal prosecution purposes and in order to avert dangers constitute a proper and necessary tool in the fight against international terrorism.' But Rasterfahndung would be much more effective if it were applied by all EU Member States, the German note states, as members and supporters of terrorist groups are believed to roam across Europe.

Therefore the German delegation wants to know from its European counterparts whether national regulations are in place which correspond to the mentioned computerised profile searches, and if there are any obstacles to the introduction of such regulations. The last question is: 'which requirements should be taken in account in order to enable a uniform procedure to be put in place across Europe?'

Germany proposed earlier to give intelligence agencies and police investigators full access to European databases as the Schengen Information System, the Europol information system, Eurodac and the Visa database (that will be introduced in the feature) in the fight against terrorism. Those databases should be searched automatically in the haunt on supposed terrorists.

Proposal of German delegation (Council of the European Union, 8th of March 2002, Enfopol 27)