Cooperation in international matters was an expected given for the UK and the EU once the former had formally exited from the latter. Yet nothing seems that certain today.
Brexit has brought a lot of changes, both expected and unexpected, to the European Union and the United Kingdom’s relationship. While things are still being worked out for the future, the past might be just that if some EU member states get their way. That’s because they want to make the United Kingdom’s participation in a lot of the EU’s databases history and this is becoming a major point of contention between the UK and their erstwhile friends.
Of course, the reasons behind this might be fairly well-founded. After it was discovered that organizations in the United Kingdom were copying this database information en masse in anticipation of being cut off from it post-Brexit, it is understandable that some EU states are wary of allowing the UK to continue to participate in these organizations given their proven bad faith behavior.
What countries exactly are opposing this? France, for one, as a recent leak indicates that, “France are currently not engaging for political reasons, and Holland will not engage due to concerns around the UK’s data adequacy status”
The Netherlands is another country opposed to the inclusion of the UK, particularly given their past behavior.
Dutch MEP Sophie said of the UK’s behavior, “For me, it is very clear. No more access to Schengen Information System, full stop. And if this is the reliability of our negotiating partner [on Brexit] then you know we should be very, very clear this is not a partner that we can work with under these conditions.”
Particularly, the UK’s access to the Schengen Information System is seen as a vital link with the continent and one that keeps both parties safer, some in the UK argue. SIS is basically a database of information that is specifically useful for law-enforcement agencies. But it isn’t just the fact that UK authorities surreptitiously took information from the database. Another complicating factor is that third parties had access to it and that it was even stored on low-security devices like laptops and the like. In many ways, the copying and then the subsequent distribution of the data was a failure of major proportions for data security experts.
As many publications are confirming, as it stands right now, once the UK leaves the EU its access to the SIS system will end with it unless some new arrangement is agreed upon.
