Access to data by Europol
1. Requests for access by Europol pursuant to Article 53 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240, shall be submitted through the software.
2. Europol shall complete a form with the data referred to in Article 52(2) and (3) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240, in accordance with Article 53 of that Regulation. Europol shall specify which data, if any, may be searched in inexact mode.
3. The specialised unit of Europol responsible for prior verification of requests, referred to in Article 53(3) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240, shall include in the request its assessment as to whether the request fulfils all the conditions in paragraph 2 of that Article. It shall be technically impossible to submit the request to the ETIAS Central Unit if the assessment is not included.
4. The ETIAS Central System shall automatically prevent access to data referred to in Article 17(2), point (h) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240. The ETIAS Central System shall also automatically prevent access to data referred to in Article 17(2), point (i) and Article 17(4), points (a), (b) and (c) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240 if the specialised unit of Europol has not indicated that relevant justifications required pursuant to Article 53(1) of that Regulation have been provided and verified. The specialised unit of Europol shall indicate in the request that the necessary verifications have been done.
Access to data by central access points
1. The central access points shall search the ETIAS Central System with the data listed in Article 52(2) and (3) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240 via the European search portal established pursuant to Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2019/817. Data listed in Article 52(2) and (3) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240 may be searched in inexact mode.
2. Until the European search portal is operational for use by central access points, searches shall be performed directly via the ETIAS Central System.
3. Where a request is received from an operating unit of the designated authorities, the central access point shall verify and confirm that the conditions in Article 52(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240 are fulfilled.
4. Where applicable, the central access point shall verify and confirm whether access to the data listed in Article 17(2), point (i) and Article 17(4), points (a), (b) and (c) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240 is justified, in accordance with Article 51 of that Regulation.
5. Where the central access point accesses the ETIAS Central System, the ETIAS Central System shall automatically prevent access to data listed in Article 17(2), point (h) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240.
The ETIAS Central System shall only retrieve the data listed in Article 17(2), point (i) and Article 17(4), points (a), (b) and (c) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240 where the central access point has confirmed that access to those data is justified pursuant to paragraph 4 of this Article.
In exceptional cases, by way of derogation from paragraph 3 of this Article, the central access points shall be able to indicate that the request concerns a case of urgency and shall be able to process the request from an operating unit of the designated authorities immediately. The verifications and confirmations provided for in paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Article shall be conducted ex post , in accordance with Article 51(4) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240.
