Establishment or designation and tasks and capabilities of Single Points of Contact
1. Each Member State shall establish or designate a Single Point of Contact. The Single Point of Contact shall be the central entity responsible for coordinating and facilitating the exchange of information under this Directive.
2. Member States shall ensure that their Single Point of Contact is equipped and empowered to carry out at least all of the following tasks:
(a)
receiving and evaluating requests for information submitted in accordance with Article 4 in the languages notified pursuant to Article 11(2);
(b)
channelling requests for information to the relevant competent law enforcement authorities and, where necessary, coordinating among them the processing of such requests and the provision of information pursuant to such requests;
(c)
coordinating the analysis and structuring of information with a view to providing it to the Single Points of Contact and, where applicable, to the competent law enforcement authorities of other Member States;
(d)
providing, on request or on its own initiative, information to other Member States in accordance with Articles 5 and 7;
(e)
refusing to provide information in accordance with Article 6 and, where necessary, requesting clarification or specifications in accordance with Article 6(3);
(f)
sending requests for information to the Single Points of Contact of other Member States in accordance with Article 4 and, where necessary, providing clarification or specifications in accordance with Article 6(3).
3. Member States shall ensure that:
(a)
their Single Point of Contact:
(i)
has access to all information available to their competent law enforcement authorities, in so far as necessary to carry out its tasks under this Directive;
(ii)
carries out its tasks 24 hours a day, 7 days a week;
(iii)
is provided with qualified staff, appropriate operational tools, technical and financial resources, infrastructure, and capabilities, including for translation, necessary to carry out its tasks in an adequate, effective and rapid manner in accordance with this Directive, including, where applicable, within the time limits set out in Article 5(1);
(b)
the judicial authorities competent to grant the judicial authorisations required under national law in accordance with Article 9 are available on call to the Single Point of Contact 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
4. Member States shall notify the Commission within one month of the establishment or designation of their Single Point of Contact. They shall inform the Commission where there are changes as regards their Single Point of Contact.
The Commission shall publish those notifications, and any updates thereto, in the Official Journal of the European Union .
Organisation, composition and training
1. Member States shall determine the organisation and the composition of their Single Point of Contact in such a manner that it can carry out its tasks under this Directive in an efficient and effective manner.
2. Member States shall ensure that their Single Point of Contact is composed of staff from their competent law enforcement authorities whose involvement is necessary for the adequate and rapid exchange of information under this Directive, including at least the following in so far as the Member State concerned is bound by the relevant law or international agreement to establish or designate such units or bureaux:
(a)
the Europol national unit established by Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 2016/794;
(b)
the SIRENE Bureau established by Article 7(2) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1862;
(c)
the Interpol National Central Bureau established by Article 32 of the Constitution of the International Criminal Police Organisation – Interpol.
3. Member States shall ensure that the staff of their Single Point of Contact are adequately qualified in order to carry out their functions under this Directive. To that end, Member States shall provide the staff of their Single Point of Contact with access to adequate and regular training, in particular as regards the following:
(a)
the use of data processing tools used within the Single Point of Contact, in particular SIENA and the case management system;
(b)
the application of Union and national law relevant for the activities of the Single Point of Contact under this Directive, in particular on the protection of personal data, including Directive (EU) 2016/680, on cross-border cooperation between law enforcement authorities, including this Directive and Regulation (EU) 2016/794, and on the handling of confidential information;
(c)
the use of the languages included in the list established by the Member State concerned pursuant to Article 11.
Case management system
1. Member States shall ensure that their Single Point of Contact deploys and operates a single electronic case management system as the repository that allows the Single Point of Contact to carry out its tasks under this Directive. The case management system shall have at least all of the following functions and capabilities:
(a)
recording incoming and outgoing requests for information as referred to in Articles 5 and 8 and any other communications relating to such requests with Single Points of Contact and, where applicable, the competent law enforcement authorities of other Member States, including information about refusals of requests for information and requests for and the provision of clarification or specifications as referred to in Article 6(2) and (3) respectively;
(b)
recording communications between the Single Point of Contact and the competent law enforcement authorities, pursuant to Article 14(2), point (b);
(c)
recording provisions of information to the Single Point of Contact and, where applicable, to the competent law enforcement authorities of other Member States in accordance with Articles 5, 7 and 8;
(d)
cross-checking incoming requests for information as referred to in Articles 5 and 8 against information available to the Single Point of Contact, including information provided in accordance with Article 5(3), second subparagraph, and Article 7(3), second subparagraph, and other relevant information recorded in the case management system;
(e)
ensuring adequate and rapid follow-up to incoming requests for information as referred to in Article 4, in particular with a view to respecting the time limits for the provision of the requested information set out in Article 5;
(f)
be interoperable with SIENA, ensuring, in particular, that incoming communications through SIENA can be directly recorded in, and that outgoing communications through SIENA can be directly sent from, the case management system;
(g)
generating statistics in respect of exchanges of information under this Directive for evaluation and monitoring purposes, in particular for the purposes of Article 18;
(h)
logging access and other processing operations in relation to the information contained in the case management system, for accountability and cybersecurity purposes, in accordance with Article 25 of Directive (EU) 2016/680.
2. Member States shall ensure that all cybersecurity risks relating to the case management system, in particular as regards its architecture, governance and control, are managed and addressed in a prudent and effective manner and that adequate safeguards against unauthorised access and abuse are provided for.
3. Member States shall ensure that the case management system contains personal data only for as long as it is necessary and proportionate for the Single Point of Contact to carry out the tasks assigned to it under this Directive and that the personal data contained therein are subsequently irrevocably deleted.
4. Member States shall ensure that their Single Point of Contact reviews, for the first time at the latest six months after an exchange of information has concluded and subsequently on a regular basis, compliance with paragraph 3.
Cooperation between Single Points of Contact
1. Member States shall encourage practical cooperation between their Single Points of Contact and competent law enforcement authorities for the purposes of this Directive.
2. Member States shall ensure that the Heads of the Single Points of Contact meet at least once a year to assess the quality of the cooperation between their services, to discuss necessary technical or organisational measures in the event of any difficulties and to clarify procedures where required.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
