Forcing the UK to leave EU security pacts after Brexit risks the safety of EU and UK citizens, Theresa May has warned European leaders.
The UK says EU negotiators are blocking agreement on tracking terrorists and sharing information after March 2019.
The EU says once the UK becomes a “third country” it cannot have the same access to policing initiatives.
Mrs May urged EU leaders to “consider what is in the best interests of the safety of your citizens and mine.”
The prime minister was speaking at a dinner on Thursday night, during the final European Council meeting before October, by which time both sides hope to have reached agreement on the UK’s withdrawal and a blueprint for its future relationship with the EU.
The talks, which stretched into the early hours of Friday, were dominated by the issue of migration.
taly, the EU’s entry point for thousands of migrants, had threatened to veto the summit’s entire agenda if it did not get more help.
Mrs May left Brussels on Friday morning and Brexit will be discussed by the remaining EU leaders without her.
BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said the prime minister had hoped to use the dinner to persuade them it was time to adopt a more flexible approach in negotiations.
According to UK officials, Mrs May said EU leaders should tell their negotiators to allow the UK to continue to take part in schemes like the Prum mechanism for sharing DNA profiles, the Second Generation Schengen Information System – a database of “real time” alerts about certain individuals – and the European Criminal Records Information System.
Without UK participation in such schemes, she suggested their collective ability to fight terrorism would be reduced.
“We would no longer be able to share real-time alerts for wanted persons, including serious criminals,” she said.
“We would be able to respond less swiftly to alerts for missing people on either side of the Channel and reunite them with their loved ones.
“Our collective ability to map terrorist networks across Europe and bring those responsible to justice would be reduced.
“That is not what I want and I do not believe it is what you want either,” the prime minister said.
She urged them to “consider what is in the best interests of the safety of your citizens and mine and give your negotiators a mandate that will allow us to achieve this crucial objective.”
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Source: BBC