cross-border surveillance

Spanish police officials have defended the cross-border surveillance operation as an effective venture with British agents.

The number of times that cross-border surveillance has been used has tripled in the time since it was introduced.

Together with hot pursuit, the instrument of cross-border surveillance has thus to date, offered the most effective option in enforcing the law across borders.

My report, though, covers the future development of the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement in the area of cross-border surveillance.

For example, in the 19th century a number of European policing agencies undertook cross-border surveillance because of concerns about anarchist agitators and other political radicals.

In principle, the planned amendment of the Schengen Agreement envisages nothing other than to hand over more powers to foreign police officers in cases involving cross-border surveillance.

If we want our internal borders to be open, our external borders need surveillance systems that work, and we also need compensatory elements along the lines of cross-border surveillance.

Problems central to child prostitution can only be combated at European level (the networking of perpetrators through the Internet and the lack of cooperation regarding cross-border surveillance and law enforcement).

Furthermore, the text also has a tendency to transform cross-border surveillance into a sort of isolated stopgap measure to compensate for the shortcomings of the police in some Member States, on whose territory their neighbours could intervene more easily.

The Council proposal is intended to extend the range of offences liable to cross-border surveillance by adding to them organised fraud, offences in connection with the trafficking in human beings, the laundering of proceeds from organised crime and dealing in radioactive materials.

Mr President, cross-border surveillance is a strictly regulated procedure, which enables the police officers of one Member State who are keeping a suspect under surveillance, to continue their work, if necessary, by crossing a border into another Member State, having made a request to the latter for assistance.

I therefore propose that it should also be possible for foreign police officers engaged in cross-border surveillance work to detain culprits until police officers of that state arrive, if, firstly, an extraditable offence has been committed and, secondly, if that State's own police are no longer in a position to prevent the offence being committed.