Brussels, 04/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - EU justice and interior ministers will be meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday 7 and Wednesday 8 October for a routine meeting likely to be dominated by the Lampedusa tragedy in which more than 110 immigrants died on Thursday 3 October. Italy announced a day of national mourning on Friday and has asked for help from Europe for dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy. As it did during the Arab Spring, Italy asked for solidarity from its neighbours and the ministers will be discussing what form the solidarity should take. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that would-be immigrants have drowned in the Mediterranean this year (13 died off the coast of Sicily on 30 September), and more than 20,000 have lost their lives there over the past two decades, but the member states and the Commission believe that their new Eurosur border surveillance system is working. It uses satellite imaging and exchange of information to avert such tragedies. This new system is meant to identify boats more rapidly, decide who is responsible and send patrol vessels to monitor the situation. The European Parliament is due to vote on a report on this on Thursday, but the Greens/EFA has already criticised member states for trying to wriggle out of their duty to provide aid to ships and boats in trouble. If all goes well, the new system could be up and running by the end of the year, hopes Commissioner Malmström. In Luxembourg, the ministers will want to know why the boat was only detected when it was five km from Italian shores and had not been detected by the Italian authorities in an area where there is a lot of shipping. A source said on Friday that this was a real mystery.
Two other controversial issues are on the agenda - reform of data protection rules and an interim report that the Commission is preparing on free circulation. For data protection, the talks will focus on very technical issues related to the “coherence mechanism” which shares out decision-making powers among national data protection agencies and Europe. They will also discuss the question of a one-stop shop (one person in every company who is responsible for data protection), a flagship measure in the reforms piloted by Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Viviane Reding. France has made a suggestion that a qualified majority decision be taken when national data protection authorities deal with cross-border cases. This is a technical question about the amount of power held by national data protection authorities. Data protection has been seriously undermined in recent weeks by a series of events, from revelations about espionage in Europe by the United States and the United Kingdom and the German elections that have led to delays in work at EU level. At a Council in Vilnius in July, Reding was pleased with French and German ambitions, but the FDP in Germany, the party of the new German interior minister, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, did very badly in the 22 September general elections. She was is the minister most in favour of action, unlike outgoing minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, who was accused of dragging his heels. Lithuania does not expect agreement to be reached on a general approach to data protection during its presidency. Sources suggest it is not very enthusiastic about the question. The Parliament's civil liberties committee is planning to vote on its report on 21 October.
Last spring, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Austria lodged a “complaint” about the free circulation of workers, and Commissioner Reding will unveil an interim report on the problems these countries say they are facing. They say their welfare systems are struggling under the pressure of foreign workers in the EU, but they did not refer to east Europeans specifically. It was agreed in June that the four member states and any others wishing to take part would submit figures to the Commission so it can get an idea of the scale o the problem. Thirteen countries are said by some sources to have responded, but some sources say the United Kingdom is not one of them. The British Permanent Representation to the EU said that new information has been sent to the Commission. The interim report is not expected to note any major problems with the free circulation of workers, explained sources on Friday. The Roma question that has been so controversial in France over the past week will not be discussed and France has not sent any information to the Commission.
Other issues to be addressed by the ministers include Syrian refugees and the number of refugees that countries are promising to take, the future European prosecutor and finding new headquarters for the European police college, whose lease has run out and which has been forced out of its premises in the United Kingdom. Justice and interior ministers from the Eastern Partnership will attend the meeting for the first time. (SP/transl.fl)