On 20 December 2017, by means of eight Recommendations, the Commission has sought to obtain authorisation from the Council to start negotiations with Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey in order to conclude international agreements concerning the exchange of personal data between Europol and competent authorities of these eight third countries.

In his Opinion 2/2018 of 12 March 2018, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) makes general and specific recommendations to ensure that the negotiated agreements will adduce appropriate safeguards within the meaning of the Europol Regulation. Recommendations, for instance, include to ensure full consistency with Article 8 of the Charter in the receiving third countries, in particular with the purpose limitation principle, the right of access, the right to rectification and the control by an independent authority specifically stipulated by the Charter. Furthermore, it must be ensured that the level of protection resulting from these agreements be essentially equivalent to the level of protection in EU law.