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British intelligence on terrorists and other serious criminals would have to be removed from EU systems if Brexit trade negotiations collapsed, a former EU security commissioner warned.
Sir Julian King, who was the last UK commissioner in Brussels until last year, said that in terms of security “the difference between an agreement and no agreement is significant” and the negative impact would be felt immediately.
“UNITED KINGDOM [intelligence] data stored in EU systems could, in fact, be deleted, if there was no data adequacy agreement covering how data is shared, ”the former British diplomat said at a briefing organized by the Royal United Services Institute. .
The UK would be instantly disconnected from a variety of databases and systems such as the European Criminal Records Information Services, which share data on previous convictions in all EU countries, he added.
The Internal Market Bill aims to enforce compatible rules and regulations regarding trade in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Some rules, for example around food safety or air quality, which were previously set by EU agreements, will now be controlled by delegated administrations or Westminster. The domestic market bill insists that decentralized administrations must accept goods and services from all UK nations, even if their standards differ locally.
This, the government says, is in part to ensure international traders have access to the UK as a whole, relying on the standards and rules to be consistent.
The Scottish government has criticized it as a “takeover” by Westminster, and the Welsh government has expressed fear that it will lead to a race to the bottom. If one of the countries that make up the United Kingdom lowers its standards, for example on the importation of chlorinated chicken, the other three nations will have to accept chlorinated chicken as well.
It has become even more controversial because one of its main goals is to empower ministers to pass regulations even if they are contrary to the withdrawal agreement reached with the EU under the Northern Ireland protocol.
The text does not disguise its intention, stating that the powers contained in the bill “have effect without prejudice to any relevant international or national law with which they may be incompatible or incompatible.”
The bill passed its first hurdle in parliament by 77 votes, despite rebellion from some Tory MPs.
Martin Belam Y Owen bowcott
Warnings about the loss of the UK’s direct access to EU security databases in the event of a no-deal have been made before, but King’s comments on the removal pose a little-discussed risk. It would have an “immediate impact” on the fight against terrorism and serious crime in Europe, he said.
The Brexit talks have entered a critical phase and UK and EU negotiators are determining whether they can enter the ‘tunnel’, the final and critical phase of high-level negotiations, which is taking place at all secret.
Both sides hope to reach a final agreement before the EU council in mid-October, for an agreement that would detail what the UK’s trade relationship with the 27-nation bloc would be when the transition period concludes at the end of the year. .
Sir John Scarlett, the former head of MI6, said that data sharing between the UK and the EU and its member states had increased significantly in recent years and that it was essential to combat terrorism and drug trafficking.
The former spy chief said that “after the attacks on the Bataclan in Paris in 2015” the exchange of intelligence on the attackers and their leader was essential for investigators to rush to gather information on the planning of the attack.
Researchers both in the UK and across Europe needed to track “personal movements, crossing borders, knowing where people are at any given time” and “financial movements at the same time,” Scarlett added.
“The extremist jihadist threat is definitely still there,” Scarlett said. “Last year in the EU there were 21 attacks related to terrorism, of which three were successful.” One was the knife attack at Fishmonger’s Hall in London Bridge, where two people who had been attending a conference on prison rehabilitation were killed.
Britain also would not have been able to negotiate a replacement for the European arrest warrant in the absence of an agreement, Scarlett warned. “From an operational point of view, it really matters … the ability to arrest serious crime suspects in the UK or elsewhere in the EU,” said the head of MI6.
King said he thought the prospects for a security deal, which is generally not considered a subject of controversy, were inextricably linked to general negotiations, where there are sticking points over state aid and property controls between Britain and Ireland. North. “This is not an area where [the EU] they’re looking at separate arrangements, ”King said.
