Brussels, 11/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - Changes to the Schengen area to allow further options for reintroducing border controls within Schengen, governance of the Schengen area, tightening of external border controls, progress in the readmission deals signed or being negotiated between the EU and non-EU countries and the controversial data retention directive will be on the agenda of the special JHA meeting of the EU27 interior ministers, in Brussels on Thursday 12 May.
The most controversial issue on the agenda is the idea of changing the way the Schengen area operates. The EU27 ministers will hold their first joint discussion about the European Commission's report (published on 4 May 2011) on managing immigration in the EU, in which it discusses boosting the Schengen area, suggesting a new EU mechanism to temporarily reintroduce internal border controls within Schengen. The policy debate will not be followed by any decisions on Thursday but will give the Commission an idea of how the land lies at the Council of Ministers and whether any further work is required. The meeting will provide an opportunity to gauge support for the idea of changing the Schengen rules because some countries, like Luxembourg, have adopted a cautious approach and want to ensure any changes are made by the EU using the “Community Method”.
France is expected to turn up in Brussels on Thursday with clear ideas about the mechanism that will clash with the European Commission's suggestions. France dislikes the idea of the EU mechanism whereby the EU decides whether to allow border controls within the Schengen area to be reintroduced because it wants the member states themselves to have the power to decide to reintroduce border controls. France opposes the idea of Brussels deciding on matter using the “comitology procedure” (decision by a committee), fearing that the EU's involvement would slow down countries' reaction capacity
In Berlin on Wednesday, Germany's Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, who backs France's aims and whose country was one of the first to look into the mechanics of how a temporary suspension of Schengen could operate (vis-à-vis Greece and then Bulgaria and Romania's application to join), was very clear that he did not want the EU to run matters. He is quoted by AFP as saying that when it comes to making changes to the Schengen area, the European Commission's involvement is not needed because countries can deal with such matters themselves, coordinating action at the EU Council of Ministers with national parliamentary scrutiny. He added where the Commission is not needed, it can be kept at a distance. Such comments will leave a bad taste in the mouth of the European Parliament, most of whose MEPs oppose the idea of changing the Schengen rules, so there will be much wrangling as part of the co-decision process.
France says Europe should intervene early, whenever problems are detected on borders. Teams of Frontex experts could be sent to the spot and an EU assessment team could examine the situation, for example. Should the EU's assessment detect persistent problems, then the EU's assessment would end at that point and any member state could decide to reintroduce border controls, informing other countries after the event (as France has done for the would-be Tunisian immigrants). France wants to keep the current safeguard clause in place - countries decide first and then inform the European Commission and fellow member states - adjusting it round the edges to cover unforeseen events or a member state failing to properly manage its share of the EU's border. This is the case that France will be arguing in the talks. It wants the expansion of the criteria for use of the safeguard mechanism to be put into law but the Commission prefers not to lay down the criteria in law.
A joint Franco-German Schengen policy statement is expected shortly and the two countries are trying to get Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden to sign up. Hans-Peter Friedrich said on Wednesday that the statement would send a message to Bulgaria and Romania because by changing the way Schengen operates, it would make it much easier for new countries to join the club. Thursday's meeting will not discuss Bulgaria and Romania's applications to join Schengen, however, because this will be on the agenda of the upcoming JHA meeting in Luxembourg, where the Hungarian Presidency is due to submit a draft conclusions document. A date will not be set in the immediate future for the two countries to join Schengen because of doubts by Germany, France, the Netherlands and other countries, which want to await the European Commission's Verification and Cooperation Mechanism Report (to be published in the summer) and the current work on revising the Schengen set-up.
The EU27 will discuss the EU data retention directive on Thursday, which requires telephone and internet operators to keep client details for at least six months. On 18 April, the European Commission suggested changes to the directive, a directive not yet introduced in six member states, including Germany, to boost privacy. The United Kingdom and a number of other countries will point out that they do not see any reason to change the directive. (S.P./transl.fl)