Full Breakdown
UK-EU Talks Aim to Restore Law-Enforcement Data Links
By Drooid · · How we work
Meeting Overview
UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will meet EU Home Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner on Monday to discuss re-entering EU police and security databases from which Britain has been excluded since Brexit. The agenda includes migration, border management, law-enforcement cooperation and counter-terrorism, with particular focus on the EU’s new migration-asylum pact and the UK’s access to the Eurodac fingerprint database and the Schengen Information System (SIS).
Background and Context
The talks follow Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham’s recent call to re-join European law-enforcement databases. Burnham told MPs that his meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in New York was “positive” because of the Commission’s openness to restoring data sharing on immigration. He added that the UK had “lost control” and would seek a practical arrangement at the upcoming EU-UK summit in November. Since Burnham’s announcement, engagement between London and Brussels has intensified, marking the second meeting between Mahmood and Brunner within two months.
Data and Statistics
- Frontex data released on Monday show a 43 % decline in small-boat crossings of the Channel.
- Brunner claimed the EU’s new migration laws have cut illegal crossings 43 % in the UK and 55 % across the EU over the past two years, with a further one-third reduction this year.
- He also noted that asylum applications are at “record lows” in former primary destination countries.
- SIS processes roughly 20 million searches daily, most of them vehicle-related, according to EU figures.
Official Statements & Responses
He indicated that the EU’s new legal framework—ten pieces of legislation collectively known as the Pact on Migration and Asylum—has already reshaped migration priorities in Germany, Italy and France. The Home Office has not commented on the pending discussions.
Verbatim Quotes
- “I will work hard to see if we can get a practical arrangement on that very issue at the summit in November,” — Andy Burnham — Andy Burnham
