Brussels, 15/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - Ministers and representatives from EU justice and home affairs ministries will be meeting in Sopot (Poland) on Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 July for an informal meeting on the future of the Schengen area, the Common European Asylum System and, at the justice part of the meeting, on Commission proposals regarding the protection of victims of crime within the EU and European contract law. During the home affairs part of the meeting, the 27 participants will also discuss another sensitive issue - the renegotiated (and still provisional) agreement between the Commission and the United States regarding the transfer of European air passenger data (Passenger Name Records, or PNR).
On the subject of Schengen and the recasting of its rules, which is to be the subject of a proposal in September, the Presidency plans above all to focus on reaching an exact definition of “crisis situations” which would warrant the re-establishment of internal border controls in Schengen countries. This remains one of the thorniest points. France had fought long and hard in favour of a new safeguard clause that would include the notion of massive migratory flows that would justify the new checks, but the European Council of 24 June did not rally to this, and the conclusions of that summit only spoke of exceptional circumstances and the failure by a member state to meet its Schengen obligations - in this case, failure to manage its part of the EU's common borders. Poland had thus not wanted, on 24 June, to make a direct link with massive immigration. It is therefore on the content of these “exceptional circumstances” and on these crisis situations that discussion in Sopot is expected to focus, the Polish Presidency deeming it necessary to reach a “common and objective” definition in order to make any EU response credible.
A number of countries may seize the opportunity provided by this informal meeting to call on the Commission for timetable details, the idea being to ensure that the proposal is made well before a formal session of the Council scheduled for 23 September. Also, a source states, the idea will be to glean information on a number of elements regarding the content of this proposal and, it is hoped, the Commission will be “more concrete”. However, for the Polish Presidency, the essential part of the debates will be on solutions allowing any recourse to internal border checks to be avoided, the Presidency explained on Friday. Poland considers such a solution would be “ineffective” and “impossible to implement”, as well as counter-productive. Instead of that, Poland hopes above all to focus on strengthening external borders, with European Schengen governance that would prevent all unilateral decisions on internal borders being taken, as well as possible ways to manage migratory crises.
Another tricky subject foreseen in Sopot concerns the compromises to be found so that the famous Common European Asylum System can be put in place by the end of 2012. This objective was reiterated on 24 June by the heads of state and government. There is a problem, the Polish Presidency states in a memo: - although progress has recently been made on the “qualifications” directive, the future of texts on the Dublin 2 or Eurodac Regulations remains uncertain, and member states have real problems with these proposals.
On the subject of the Dublin Regulation, Poland plans to table the question of the emergency mechanism advocated by the Commission which would allow suspension of transfers of asylum seekers to an EU country that is logically competent but whose asylum system failures would place asylum seekers at risk. Poland is expected to ask the 26 other member states if they plan to move forward on a proposal including this mechanism, on a text that is totally expurgated of this possibility, or whether it is appropriate to envisage another separate text exclusively devoted to this emergency mechanism.
With regard to the Eurodac Regulation, the database of fingerprints for asylum seekers, it will at this point be appropriate to ask the Commission to review its proposal allowing access by EU police forces to the database. Two other texts also raise questions with member states - for example the directives revised on 1st June this year relating to conditions for hosting asylum seekers and procedures. As the Presidency states in its memo, discussions on this are not expected to be easy either.
Finally, on the subject of PNR, discussion should bear on the difficulties experienced by a number of countries regarding the agreement negotiated by the Commission with the United States and finalised in mid-May. Proportionality, the duration of data retention, conformity to the mandate given by the Council, the transfer of data on Europeans between the United States and other third countries - all these are problematic issues that should be brought to the Commission's notice on Monday. One Council source states the “agreement should be renegotiated”, this being a message that is expected to be delivered to Commissioner Cecilia Malmström at the meeting in Sopot on Monday.
Discussions during the justice part of the meeting are expected to cover European contract law and coexistence between a single, and optional, European instrument under preparation, and national contract laws. The Polish Presidency considers such cohabitation at this stage is “difficult”. (S.P./transl.jl)