Recital (65)

Where personal data are transferred from a Member State to third countries or international organisations, such a transfer should, in principle, take place only after the Member State from which the data were obtained has given its authorisation to the transfer. The interests of efficient law-enforcement cooperation require that where the nature of a threat to the public security of a Member State or a third country or to the essential interests of a Member State is so immediate as to render it impossible to obtain prior authorisation in good time, the competent authority should be able to transfer the relevant personal data to the third country or international organisation concerned without such a prior authorisation. Member States should provide that any specific conditions concerning the transfer should be communicated to third countries or international organisations. Onward transfers of personal data should be subject to prior authorisation by the competent authority that carried out the original transfer. When deciding on a request for the authorisation of an onward transfer, the competent authority that carried out the original transfer should take due account of all relevant factors, including the seriousness of the criminal offence, the specific conditions subject to which, and the purpose for which, the data was originally transferred, the nature and conditions of the execution of the criminal penalty, and the level of personal data protection in the third country or an international organisation to which personal data are onward transferred. The competent authority that carried out the original transfer should also be able to subject the onward transfer to specific conditions. Such specific conditions can be described, for example, in handling codes.