Overview

• The European Union has formally denied the UK's request for access to the Schengen Information System (SIS II) and Eurodac, citing legal and treaty constraints.
• UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper had made database access a central demand in Brexit reset negotiations to address migration and cross-border crime challenges.
• The EU's refusal complicates the UK's efforts to clear a 38,000-case asylum backlog and improve intelligence-sharing on criminal suspects, key priorities for the Labour government.
• UK negotiators are now exploring alternative data-sharing mechanisms to replicate the functionality of SIS II and Eurodac without requiring treaty changes.
• The deadlock over data-sharing is expected to hinder progress on a youth mobility visa scheme at the upcoming May 19 UK-EU summit, further straining relations.