Ierland houdt EU plannen data-uitwisseling met Israel tegen (en)
The European Commission has dropped plans to offer Israel data sharing access after pressure from the Irish government.
A proposal for an application to recognise the Jewish state's data protection regime as equivalent to that in the EU was shelved on Thursday (3 September) after Dublin made it clear that it would oppose the move at a commission meeting in Brussels.
Irish media are reporting that the commission conceded to the country's concerns, although the EU executive may return with similar plans, should Ireland's reservations be dealt with.
Justice minister Dermot Ahern originally raised his objections in July, shortly after the country expelled an Israeli diplomat following Dublin's conclusion that Tel Aviv was behind the assassination of a Hamas leader by a hit squad in January in Dubai that had used eight forged Irish passports alongside a number of falsified passports of other EU states.
The government was particularly concerned that while electronic data was covered by Israel's data protection protocols, data gathered by hand - such as by border officials handling passports - is not.
It is understood that Ireland was the sole EU state to object to the data transfer plan and thus could not have blocked the move, had the plan not been shelved out of concern for Ireland's reservations.
According to Dubai authorities, of the 29 suspects involved in the assassination, 12 carried British passports, six Irish, four French, one German, and four Australian. A further two Palestinians were also arrested.
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