Paul Taylor, a contributing editor at POLITICO, writes the “Europe At Large” column.
PARIS — Terrorists, gangsters and people-smugglers will be among the big winners if negotiations on the United Kingdom’s future relationship with the EU end without an agreement later this year.
At midnight on New Year’s Eve, when the Brexit transition period expires, the screens connecting British police, cybersecurity services and justice officials with the bloc’s crime-fighting databases, traveler records and forensic archives will go dark.
It’s not just the gilded statue of the goddess of justice atop London’s Old Bailey Central Criminal Court that will be blindfolded. U.K. police and prosecutors also risk being suddenly unsighted by the loss of vital real-time information.
Instant access to passenger data, DNA, fingerprints and criminal records around Europe will be a thing of the past. Extradition may take a year or more rather than an average of 48 days under the European Arrest Warrant. Requests for judicial cooperation may revert to being handled in slow motion through diplomatic channels rather than directly between justice officials.
Please help! (grandchild being locked in bedroom)
