On 14 February 2023, the Council of the EU approved an Agreement between the European Union and New Zealand on the exchange of personal data between the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement (Europol) and the authorities in New Zealand competent for fighting serious crime and terrorism. The agreement enables the transfer of personal data between Europol and the competent authorities in New Zealand, with a view to fighting serious crime and terrorism and protecting the security of the Union and its inhabitants. It includes provisions on the exchange of information and data protection, the rights of data subjects, the establishment of a supervisory authority, and administrative and judicial redress.

The agreement was formally published in the EU's Official Journal on 20 February 2023. It enters into force on the date of receipt of the last written notification in which the contracting parties notify each other that the respective procedures have been completed through diplomatic channels.

The agreement will be one of the first ones under the current Europol's legal framework, i.e. Regulation 2016/794, which provides that it is possible for Europol to transfer personal data to an authority of a third country on the basis of a bilateral agreement between the EU and the third country. Currently, Europol works together with the New Zealand Police on the basis of Working Arrangement concluded in 2019. The Arrangement has not provided a legal basis for the transfer of personal data by Europol to the law enforcement authorities of New Zealand.

The concluded Agreement will allow the exchange of personal data for the first time that is linked to serious crime and/or terrorism. It had been mainly motivated by the terrorist attacks in Christchurch in March 2019.