European Commission and Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs 11 December 2025, COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL evaluating and assessing the operational impact of the implementation of the tasks provided for in Regulation (EU) 2022/991, in particular in Article 4(1), point (t), Article 18(2), point (e), Article 18(6a), and Articles 18a, 26, 26a and 26b, with regard to Europol’s objectives as well as the impact of those tasks on fundamental rights and freedoms as provided for by the Charter, pursuant to Article 68(3) of Regulation (EU) 2016/794

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This Commission Staff Working Document accompanies the Commission's evaluation report required under Article 68(3) of Regulation (EU) 2016/794 (Europol Regulation), assessing the operational impact, fundamental rights implications, and cost-benefit balance of the personal data processing powers introduced by Regulation (EU) 2022/991, covering: SIS information alerts on third-country nationals (Article 4(1)(t) ER); processing for research and innovation (Article 18(2)(e) and 33a ER); analysis of large and complex datasets without data subject categorisation (Articles 18(6a) and 18a ER); and exchange of personal data with private parties (Articles 26, 26a and 26b ER). The evaluation finds that implementation of most provisions was significantly delayed by governance, technical, and administrative preparatory requirements, with Article 4(1)(t) ER not yet operational as of the reporting date and expected to become operational in 2026, while Articles 18(6a), 18a, 26, 26a, and 26b ER are operational and have yielded positive, if not yet fully quantifiable, operational benefits. Stakeholders identified areas for improvement, notably regarding the administrative burden of data subject categorisation, the scope and frequency of mandatory prior consultations of the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), divergences in handling data subject access requests, and the complexity of the private parties cooperation framework, with the Commission indicating these issues will be further examined in the forthcoming general evaluation under Article 68(1) ER.AI