(12) Even though the original purpose for the establishment of EURODAC did not require the facility of requesting comparisons of data with the database on the basis of a latent which is the dactyloscopic trace which may be found at a crime scene, such a facility is a fundamental one in the field of police cooperation.

The possibility to compare a latent fingerprint with the fingerprint data which is stored in Eurodac in cases where there are reasonable grounds for believing that the perpetrator or victim may fall under one of the categories covered by this Regulation will provide the designated authorities of the Member States with a very valuable tool in preventing, detecting or investigating terrorist offences or other serious criminal offences, when for example the only evidence available at a crime scene are latent fingerprints.

‘dactyloscopic data’ mean fingerprint images, images of fingerprint latents, palm prints, palm print latents and templates of such images (coded minutiae), when they are stored and dealt with in an automated database.

LP/ULP: palmprint latent against unsolved palmprint latent

LT/UL: fingerprint latent against unsolved fingerprint latent

Among the amendments that have been tabled, I should like to highlight the following amendments for their importance to the economy as distinct from what I feel should be subject to a formal framework decision: greater harmonisation of the conditions of access to biometric databases, ensuring that such access is limited to investigations, and, in the case of fingerprint data, to the prevention of serious criminal offences; clear definition of rules applying to joint operations; establishment of strict necessity criteria so that the transmission of personal data is legitimate, especially when it comes to the most delicate situatio ...[+++]ns, major events and preventing terrorist attacks; extending the scope of the chapter on data protection to all forms of processing data, ensuring compliance with all recommendations put forward by the European data protection supervisor; implementation of a maximum period for keeping personal data; establishment of specific safeguards prohibiting the processing of sensitive data that may be used for the purpose of ethnic profiling; strengthening Parliament’s role in following up the proposal for a decision, in particular when implementation and assessment measures are adopted; and lastly, clarification of the relationship between this proposal for a decision and the proposal for a framework decision on data protection under the third pillar, the latter always being a general regulatory framework in the matter, in any situation.