Sarah Tas is a French lawyer holding a bachelor's degree in Law from the University of Strasbourg and an LLM in EU Litigation from the University of Luxembourg. It was during her time in Luxembourg that she became interested in EU administrative law, particularly in the Justice and Home Affairs Agencies.
Her thesis titled, Overseeing Supervision: Europol’s processing and exchanges of personal data, focuses on the supervisory arrangements surrounding Europol's processing operations and exchanges of personal data. It offers an original conceptualisation of supervision, which is then applied in the empirical part of the thesis. The study critically assesses the supervisors of Europol's processing operation, shedding light on the supervisory blind spots that appear in the exchanges of personal data occurring in the hotspots in Greece and through the Schengen Information System.
Sarah analyses the existing limits of supervision in this domain, namely evident opacity in Europol's operations, underused supervisory powers, and a clear lack of resources. Drawing on this, she develops three policy recommendations: increase the level of transparency in the daily work of Europol; ensure a more impactful and efficient supervision through proactiveness and joint controllership; introduce the supervision of exchanges of personal data.
Sarah decided to deal with this highly sensitive topic because Europol is a strong Agency whose actions often take place outside of the public eye. As Europol amasses vast quantities of data with potential profound implications for individuals, Sarah firmly believes that it is essential to have strong safeguards in place to protect personal data.
Sarah now uses her extensive knowledge of Europol to support the work of NGOs and investigative journalists, and continuously requests access to documents to further enhance transparency in the EU. During her research, opacity was one of the biggest challenges she faced and became a cause worth fighting for.
Sarah will always look back at her time at the EUI as a pleasant one, enriched by amazing friends, and nice nights at Fiasco Social Bar. She is now continuing her career as an Assistant Professor at Maastricht University but will not miss a chance to visit the EUI and its beautiful Villa Salviati.