Has anyone heard of any updated news about travelling to Europe?  DH has a SOPO which finishes in August 2019.  We are fully prepared that we may not be able to travel to Europe together when ETIAS comes in during 2020.
Someone from Unlock messaged us after an initial enquiry to say that the UK does not share data with Europe, however, my question is, how long does travel data for travelling during a SOPO (notifications) stay abroad?  We were stopped upon entry to Poland a couple of years ago, yet every other EU country (Greece, Germany, Holland) have just waved him straight through.  We don't know if his data associated with his passport number is logged permanently - given that the new GDPR laws are coming into place, we don't know how long they are allowed to hold onto data for.  
Also from a friend's point of view, ETIAS is likely to ask about infectious diseases and she had one a few years ago from Egypt - are they seriously just going to put a stop on everyone travelling?! 

Sounds like the information is on the Schengen Information System as an alert.  These are 'meant' to be removed by the relevant country authorities (I assume UK in this case) when they are no longer relevant. The alert should therefore be removed in August 2019 if there are no other notification requirements still running.

After that date, much depends on the types of questions ETIAS will ask - the early information I saw referred to checks against SIS for those people who are banned from travelling/entry, not for information-type alerts. What is not clear is what the bar will be set at for requiring an EU visa - will they not issue an ETIAS if you have a 'serious' criminal record like a lot of countries, or an unspent conviction of type X,Y or Z.... That's really the key point - what will they be concerned about in the future???

The second point is this - If ETIAS asks about criminal records (e.g. a serious offence), what data do they have access to in order to check your answers?  My best guess is that if you have an unspent conviction for a serious sexual/violent/fraud offence, you will be on a UK warning database and therefore on SIS and it will flag. For everything else, I can't believe the UK would share criminal record information unless requested.  I know our government (and the Daily Mail) would like to see criminal records for everyone coming to the UK but the EU countries are much more protective of privacy and any deal has to be a quid pro quo so can't see the EU agreeing to anything like that.

Bottom line - too many unknowns and Brexit negotiations at the moment, so enjoy the remainder of the time we are in the EU and during transition. Worry about the future once we know more!

The standards set post UK exit will be interesting. The EU will be a universal form and with actual rehabilitation and differences in sentences across the  remaining 27, the process will have a basis of human rights and maybe some common sense. 

I certainly have more faith in the EU designed system being more fair than the Medieval UK. 

With different judicial systems and rehabilitation times across the UK it could also be a postcode lottery. 

It looks like the EU want current arrangements to continue through the transition period, if there is one. After that, it's down to what is agreed. UK access to EU systems will be subject to the UK accepting the oversight of the European Court of Justice, which is something they have said they won't accept. I'm guessing the UK will back down on this before the EU does, especially if it holds up the rest of the deal.

=========================================================================================================

If you are to punish a man retributively you must injure him. If you are to reform him you must improve him. And men are not improved by injuries. (George Bernard Shaw)

Were you stopped from entering the country and sent back on the next flight? Or were you just stopped and asked some questions and then waved through?

I am under a SOPO for another couple of years. I recently travelled to Belgium and endured by far the most severe questioning I've ever had. I've always known my passport has been flagged as they have occasionally taken a longer look or asked a couple of basic questions about length of visit, where I'm staying, etc. But this time, they wanted the full details of my conviction. I told the truth (online viewing offence) and they still let me through, but it ruined the trip, and my other half and I were quite tearful and traumatised and worried it might be difficult in future.

My conviction is more than 7 years old and there have been no issues whatsoever since then. I have travelled abroad a couple of times a year, have a good relationship with my PPU and have never had any problems. So it really baffled me why it has suddenly led to this intense questioning.

It probably relates back to those huge queues at airports last year. Now they have to check people for "security reasons", so they check everyone fully. I remember a case where a Belgian immigration officer was ridiculously officious with someone who didn't even have a criminal record. They all closed ranks and the UK citizen was sent back to the UK on the next train. As the UK government isn't flavour of the month at the moment, I'd guess there are functionaries who have nothing better to do with their time than punish people for being British, even though that is illegal in the EU.

=========================================================================================================

If you are to punish a man retributively you must injure him. If you are to reform him you must improve him. And men are not improved by injuries. (George Bernard Shaw)

I had a similar experience on passing through Belgian controls on my way back to the UK on the Eurostar. We were marched into a room where our passports were photocopied and we were quizzed on where we had been in Europe. I wasn't asked any details of my conviction though.

I would guess it's Belgium's interpretation of the new entry/exit checks to the Schengen zone. Going TO the EU via St Pancras I didn't even get so much as a second glance from the French officers when my passport was scanned.

We were starting to think we could possibly travel with friends but the incident completely killed that idea dead and made me question travelling at all while subject to notification requirements.

Interesting, thanks. I guess Belgium must be applying it more rigidly than other countries.

I went to France by car ferry from Dover last year and the French passport people at Dover were the same - barely glanced at the passport, didn't even take it out of my hand from the car, let alone scan it.

Shame to hear that people who are going about their business are being hassled so much. Brexit will be interesting - at the moment countries can deny entry to someone, despite freedom of movement, if they are perceived to be a risk to public security. Of course, certain offenses will get picked up on this more than others and the wording of the legislation is open to interpretation so that each Member State can decide their own view of what and who constitutes a risk.

SOPO are an interesting one. Are your offenses otherwise spent? People with SOPOs end up with Visor records, which automatically triggers an alert on the Home Office Watch List/Index. This should cause issues only on return, but does suggest some info sharing if there are issues entering other countries. Unless SOPOs also mean you stay on the SoR, which whould trigger a Schengen Information System Article 36(a) alert to all EU Member States.

For as long as you have a SOPO, you are on the SOR, even if the prescribed time for the SOR has elapsed. And for as long as you have a SOPO, your conviction is unspent, even if it would normally be spent under the ROA.

Basically a SOPO supersedes (i) the time after which the ROA declares the conviction to be spent, and (ii) the time you're told you have to be on the SOR.

It sucks. Based on the length of my sentence, my conviction should have been spent after 4 years, but instead it is actually unspent for 10 years due, yes, to the length of my sentence, which also requires the SOR period to be 10 years. The higher number always wins :-(

Any official statement/insinuation that the UK doesn't share SOR information with other countries, or that it should only flag upon return but not upon arrival abroad, is pure lies, as can be seen from the many stories on these boards.