Dancing in the dark: Policy transformations through obfuscating contestations in the case of Prüm II

Abstract

In December 2021, the European Commission proposed amendments to the Prüm system on the exchange of different categories of personal data for stepping up cooperation for combating terrorism and cross-border crime (Prüm II). The proposal aimed to increase automation of the sharing of data, add new categories of data for exchange, namely facial images and police records, and prepares the integration of the Prüm system into the interoperability framework which interconnects the six large-scale IT systems in the European Union Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ). In this article we analyse the public consultation process on these planned reforms to the Prüm II system, and we focus on two particular prospective changes: interoperability and exchange of facial images. We argue that the public consultation process related to prospect changes to the Prüm system has functioned as ‘technologies of democracy’ by which policy transformations obfuscate tensions and conflicts around complex and contested public problems. Specifically, in the context of Prüm II, we assert that public consultation efforts fall short of addressing the concerns of the affected publics. Instead, they sideline and suppress alternative yet reasonably anticipated concerns, thereby fortifying dominant security frameworks.