Directive (EU) 2016/681 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 9 U.K. Exchange of information between Member States

1. Member States shall ensure that, with regard to persons identified by a PIU in accordance with Article 6(2), all relevant and necessary PNR data or the result of processing those data is transmitted by that PIU to the corresponding PIUs of the other Member States. The PIUs of the receiving Member States shall transmit, in accordance with Article 6(6), the received information to their competent authorities.

2. The PIU of a Member State shall have the right to request, if necessary, that the PIU of any other Member State provide it with PNR data that are kept in the latter's database and that have not yet been depersonalised through masking out of data elements under Article 12(2), and also, if necessary, the result of any processing of those data, if it has already been carried out pursuant to point (a) of Article 6(2). Such a request shall be duly reasoned. It may be based on any one data element or a combination of such elements, as deemed necessary by the requesting PIU for a specific case of prevention, detection, investigation or prosecution of terrorist offences or serious crime. PIUs shall provide the requested information as soon as practicable. In the event that the requested data have been depersonalised through masking out of data elements in accordance with Article 12(2), the PIU shall only provide the full PNR data where it is reasonably believed that it is necessary for the purpose referred to in point (b) of Article 6(2) and only when authorised to do so by an authority referred to in point (b) of Article 12(3).

3. The competent authorities of a Member State may request directly the PIU of any other Member State to provide them with PNR data that are kept in the latter's database only when necessary in cases of emergency and under the conditions laid down in paragraph 2. The requests from the competent authorities shall be reasoned. A copy of the request shall always be sent to the PIU of the requesting Member State. In all other cases, the competent authorities shall channel their requests through the PIU of their own Member State.

4. Exceptionally, where access to PNR data is necessary to respond to a specific and actual threat related to terrorist offences or serious crime, the PIU of a Member State shall have the right to request that the PIU of another Member State obtain PNR data in accordance with Article 8(5) and provide it to the requesting PIU.

5. Exchange of information under this Article may take place using any existing channels for cooperation between the competent authorities of Member States. The language used for the request and the exchange of information shall be the one applicable to the channel used. Member States shall, when giving their notifications in accordance with Article 4(5), also inform the Commission of the details of the contact points to which requests may be sent in cases of emergency. The Commission shall communicate such details to the Member States.