Furthermore, in order to improve the system to facilitate the exchange of criminal records of non-EU citizens in the EU, on the 19th of January 2016 the European Commission proposed to upgrade the European Criminal Records Information System. This proposal was the outcome of problems that existed in the current system which was rather time consuming since a Member State desiring to carry out a background check on a non-EU citizen had to send individual requests to all the concerned Member States in order to obtain a complete overview of the person's criminal history.

As a result, as part of the European Agenda on Security, the Commission is taking steps to adapt to new and evolving threats by ensuring that the criminal convictions of third country nationals convicted in the EU can be easily accessed in the European Criminal Records Information System. This potential new improvement in the system would certainly ensure better security for all citizens throughout the EU, boost and improve the judicial cooperation but also cut costs and improve efficiency as a whole.