On 16.02.2022, the inauguration of the headquarters for the National Passenger Information Unit (UNIP) took place at the headquarters of the General Inspectorate of Border Police. UNIP is a structure of the General Inspectorate of Border Police that uses data from the register with the names of airline passengers for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offenses and serious criminal offenses, as well as for the prevention and removal of threats to national security.
The construction of the building was the last stage of the Project ROFSIP2018OS5A17P01-Development of the National Passenger Information Unit, a project funded by the Internal Security Fund, the component for police cooperation, which had the general objective of improving the exchange of information, in accordance with Directive (EU) 2016 / 681 on the use of Passenger Name Record (PNR) data for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offenses and serious crime.
Through this project, the Romanian Border Police has optimized the IT solution, created a data recovery center, trained staff, but also ensured optimal working conditions for carrying out specific activities in the field of PNR.
The UNIP building is an administrative construction with a built area of approximately 3,900 square meters, and the purpose of the rooms is office, technical and administrative spaces to ensure optimal working conditions for staff.
The value of the investment was approximately 22.2 million lei, a fully equipped building, both with specific technical equipment and furniture. The financing sources of the project are represented by the EU financial contribution (12 million lei) from Non-reimbursable External Funds and by funds allocated from the state budget (10.2 million lei).
Following the award procedure by public tender organized at the level of the institution, the building was built and operationalized within the term established according to the contract (18 months from the date of signing).
UNIP has been operational since January 1, 2016, but given the fact that the spaces in which it operated cannot ensure optimal conditions for all personnel, equipment, endowment systems, nor adequate spaces for storing documents specific to the field, it was necessary to create infrastructures adapted to the growing needs of data processing, guaranteeing a high level of security and respect for fundamental human rights.
Thus, the new building has the capacity to house both its own staff and the representatives of the other national competent authorities, the general objective being to improve the exchange of information in order to remove threats to national security.
Thus, in accordance with art. 7, para. 3 of Law 284/2018 on the use of data from the register with the names of air transport passengers for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offenses and serious crime, as well as for the prevention and removal of threats to national security, the competent law authorities (Romanian Police, Romanian Border Police, General Directorate of Internal Protection, General Anticorruption Directorate, Romanian Intelligence Service, Foreign Intelligence Service, Ministry of National Defense: General Directorate of Defense Intelligence, Public Ministry, National Administration Agency F: General Directorate of Customs) may second or delegate personally to UNIP in order to carry out the assessments provided in art. 20-22 of the same normative act.
Within the unit, all activities are carried out in accordance with the legislation in force, in compliance with the legal framework for information that may be intended for publicity, involve specific checks to communicate data requested by competent authorities, interoperability with other competent national authorities, similar structures in other EU Member States, third countries and Europol, as well as the establishment of risk profiles for serious crime and terrorist offenses.
BACKGROUND
Starting with November 2015, based on Ordinance no. 13 of July 2015, the National Passenger Information Unit (UNIP) operates within the General Inspectorate of Border Police as the structure responsible for processing passenger data (PNR data), in order to prevent and combat acts of terrorism, related offenses and national security, as well as preventing and removing threats to national security.
UNIP is the national point of contact for such units in other EU Member States and is responsible for exchanging PNR (Passenger Name Record) data with them. In Europe, Romania is the third country, after the United Kingdom and France, to operationalize the Passenger Information Unit (PIU) in order to collect PNR data from airlines, store, process, analyze and transmit them to the competent authorities. for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offenses and threats to national security.
UNIP is a complex activity that involves specific checks to communicate data requested by competent authorities, analysis of PNR data, interoperability with other national competent authorities, similar structures in other EU Member States, third countries and Europol, implementation of the concept of targeting, risk related to crimes within the scope of those covered by the processing of PNR data.
Given the large amount of information collected from air operators, IT equipment with very high storage and processing power is required, all specific activities of verification and relationship of the collected data requiring the use of high performance resources.
In the context of the intensification of terrorist attacks and international organized crime, favored by the abolition of internal border controls, on 27 April 2016 the EU Directive 681/2016 on the use of Passenger Name Record (PNR) data for the prevention, detection , investigation and prosecution of terrorist offenses and serious crime. The PNR Directive has been transposed into national law by Law 284/2018 on the use of data in the register with the names of air transport passengers for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offenses and serious crime, as well as for the prevention and removal of threats to national security.
