work effectively for non-EU nationals convicted in the EU. The Commission will accelerate the work already under way to improve ECRIS for non-EU nationals and is ready to contribute to its effective implementation. The real-time availability of existing data across Member States is an area for future work on information exchange. In response to a request made by the Council17, the Commission will assess the necessity and potential added value of a European Police Record Index System (EPRIS) to facilitate cross-border access to information held in national police records. In the meantime, the Commission is supporting the launch of a pilot project planned by a group of Member States to establish the mechanisms for automated cross-border searches in national indexes on a 'hit'/'no hit' basis.18 Finally, the Maritime Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE) will enable interoperability of relevant security data in areas such as piracy, terrorism, arms and drugs smuggling, human trafficking, environmental pollution, civil protection and natural disasters between competent authorities within their existing mandates. EU action must focus first of all on the full implementation of rules already in place – such as the Prüm framework – and adoption of proposals already on the table – such as the EU PNR Directive, the Europol Regulation and the Data Protection reform. This will already constitute a major step forward by putting in place a clear, secure, and properlyregulated set of tools to give the authorities the information they need – as long as these tools are used to their full potential. Key instruments like the Schengen Information System, the Schengen Border Code and ECRIS should also be kept under review and any gaps in coverage filled. 2.2 Increased operational cooperation The Lisbon Treaty provides legal and practical arrangements to make operational cooperation between authorities of different Member States effective. Through the EU Policy Cycle for serious and organised crime, Member States authorities coordinate common priorities and operational actions. The Standing Committee on Operational Cooperation on Internal Security (COSI) plays a central role. The Policy Cycle provides a methodology for an intelligence-led approach to internal security, based on joint threat assessments coordinated within Europol. It targets available resources in view of immediate, mid-term and long-term security threats and risks. The Policy Cycle should be used more by Member States to launch concrete law enforcement operations to tackle organised crime, including with third countries. Operation Archimedes, coordinated by Europol in September 2014 to address a variety of serious crimes across Member States and third countries, provided a practical example of how this can help.19 Such operations should be evaluated regularly in order to identify best practices for future action. EU agencies play a crucial role in supporting operational cooperation. They contribute to the assessment of common security threats, they help to define common priorities for 17 18 19 See Council Conclusions of 4.12.2014, mentioned above. The automated reply to a search in the index would only indicate if data is available ('hit') or not ('no hit') in the police record of another country. In case of a hit, additional data would need to be requested using existing channels for police cooperation. Operation Archimedes took place in September 2014; law enforcement authorities from 34 countries took part; coordination was provided by Europol. The operation targeted organised criminal groups and resulted in over 1000 arrests made across Europe. 8