Brussels, 30/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 2 December, EU ministers for home affairs are expected to adopt negotiating mandates for concluding agreements with Australia, Canada and the US on the transfer of Passenger Name Records (PNR) in the fight against terrorism. The Council meeting will take place over two days: on Thursday home affairs issues will be tackled, and on Friday 3 December legal questions will be discussed. This will be a very full agenda because it contains the fight against terrorism, the EU-US agreement on the protection of personal data and the agreement on cross-border divorce.
Mixed Committee. The Mixed Committee (EU, Norway, Iceland, Lichtenstein and Switzerland) will examine progress on the second-generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) and measures for strengthening external border protection and fighting against illegal immigration. The Belgian Presidency underlined that the adoption of the Swiss right-wing and populist initiative demanding the systematic expulsion of foreign criminals and delinquents would not be discussed by ministers (EUROPE 10266).
Home Affairs. This will take place under the chairmanship of Melchior Wathelet, the Belgian secretary of state for migration and asylum policy, and Annemie Turtelboom, the Belgian minister for home affairs. The Council will first of all examine a report from the Presidency on asylum and migration policy. Ministers will then look at Greece's implementation of its national action plan to reform asylum and migration management, the Mediterranean Office for Youth and the results from a conference on legal migration. Home affairs ministers will then adopt directives for negotiating and concluding PNR agreements with Australia, Canada and the US. The mandates outline that the agreements would be concluded for a period of seven years and renewable for an equivalent length of time. Germany is the only member state opposing over-simplified procedures for renewing these agreements. In an effort to remove these reservations, it is expected that the Council assess whether the agreement can be extended or not. This assessment will be based on an examination (before the end of a seven-year period) of an evaluation presented by the Commission to the Council and the Parliament. In the anti-terrorism struggle, discussions will focus on the report and reflection document elaborated by the EU anti-terrorist coordinator, Gilles de Kerchove, relating to the question of information sharing between member states on the terrorist threat and the recommendations formulated by the high level ad hoc group on civil aviation freight security. The Commission will present its communication on measures involving the EU's internal security strategy and the Presidency will inform the Council about meetings that have recently taken place with Russia and the Western Balkan countries on the subject of justice and home affairs. It is also expected that ministers for home affairs will adopt conclusions on preventing identity fraud and combating itinerant criminal groups. The agenda also contains the adoption of the European action plan for fighting against the trafficking of heavy firearms. During lunch, ministers will discuss the asylum and immigration dossier, as well as alternatives to the detention of minors. The other subject for discussion will be the location of the headquarters for the agency responsible for operational management of large scale information systems whose activities will be shared between France and Estonia.
Justice. During this session which will be chaired by Stefaan De Clerck, the Belgian justice minister, harmonised rules will be adopted on the law applicable to divorce and legal separation (“Rome 3”). Fourteen member states are participating in this enhanced cooperation initiative, the first in the history of the EU. Once the European Parliament has given its opinion, the regulation can be definitively adopted, which will probably happen on 20 December, during the Environmental Council. The regulation will enter into force during the middle of 2012. The Council is expected to confirm the agreements reached on minimum rules applicable across the EU for fighting against the trafficking of human beings. These rules are expected to be adopted by the Council and the Parliament in a first reading, during the next few weeks (EUROPE 10264). Ministers are also expected to develop the general orientation to enable negotiations with the EP to begin on the two directives involving: the fight against child sexual abuse and the right of information in criminal proceedings (“Letter of Rights”). The Council will also continue its discussions on the creation of a European Investigation Order, in view of concluding an EU-US agreement on protecting personal data. An agreement is possible on this dossier, although a number of member states agree on postponing the sensitive issue of renegotiating the many agreements existing between the EU, member states and the US on personal data protection. In this context, the Commission will present its recent communication on data protection. The other questions on the agenda of the ministers of justice include international family mediation in cases of international parental child abduction, as well as the progress accomplished in the area of the “E-Justice” project. During lunch, ministers will discuss a draft directive on procedural rights concerning access to a lawyer. (B.C./transl.fl)