Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner and the Minister of Justice and Public Security of Brazil, Ricardo Lewandowski signed on 5 March an agreement on the exchange of personal data between Europol and the Brazilian Federal Police. This will strengthen cooperation between the EU and Brazil on the fight against organised crime and terrorism and builds on a strategic cooperation agreement between the EU and Brazil in place since 2017, already facilitating the exchange of non-personal data. 
The agreement will guarantee a high level of protection of fundamental rights, including through strong data protection safeguards. Brazil is the first country in the Latin American region to reach this kind of agreement with the EU – and the second country in the world, alongside New Zealand. It is now for the European Parliament to give its consent for the conclusion of the agreement. 
Magnus Brunner, Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, said: “International cooperation is a cornerstone of our work to strengthen the EU's and our partners' internal security. This agreement will provide us with the opportunity to enhance information exchange with a key partner, Brazil, and in turn increase Europol's support to Member States' cross-border criminal investigations.”
The Commission has made the EU's internal security a key priority. As a central part of these efforts, the Commission is working on a new Internal Security Strategy to be presented in spring. This includes even stronger cooperation with international partners.
(For more information: Markus Lammert — Tel.: +32 2 296 75 33; Elettra Di Massa - Tel.: +32 2 298 21 61)