Brussels, 16/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - Discussions aimed at reactivating the German proposal to penalise racist and xenophobic phenomena have shown that several member states are reticent about moving forward on this. On Thursday, nearly two years after the stalled negotiations, European justice ministers examined the proposal for a framework decision aimed at combating racism and xenophobia.
The aim is to reach at least some harmonisation in provisions on making the diffusion of racist and xenophobic liable to punishment (EUROPE 9355). Over lunch, the German EU Presidency hoped to discuss the scope of such a proposal with justice and home affairs ministers. “Considerable progress has been made”', said German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries, who commented, however, that some States did have “different views” on the matter. “I am confident that, over the next 2 or 3 months, we shall find a solution”, she added. In reality, there is definitely dissension over this subject. The British object to the fact that the proposal includes incrimination of reprehensible behaviour towards a religious group or a member of a religious group. More generally speaking, this article of faith on freedom of expression is also shared by most northern countries. France and Spain, on the other hand, consider that any public expression of racism or xenophobia should be condemned. Estonia, which aspires to be the spokes-country for the “former Eastern European countries”, is in favour of extending the proposal to Stalinian crimes. The other delegations fail to understand such a stance, as they consider it out of phase with the objective of the text. One diplomatic source said: “This question could be settled, for example, by a declaration whereby the Council condemns all crimes of a Stalinian kind”.
Some progress has been made from the point of view of illegal immigration, as two thirds of the States pledged to provide equipment for the “tool box” of the European Border Agency (EUROPE 9367). Ministers also looked at the possibility of making military equipment available in the context of coastal surveillance missions. Germany's Minister of the Interior Wolfgang Schäuble said that aid provided by member states to countries that need it was supposed to be a response to “extraordinary crisis situation”, but was not to permanently manage the borders of the EU. On the subject of illegal immigration, ministers discussed a note proposed by the Presidency setting out goals to be attained. The Commission was asked to submit detailed proposals by June 2007 on how to organise legal immigration between the EU and third countries. Franco Frattini, Commissioner for Immigration, pointed out that he would soon be presenting a “package” of proposals containing a model of agreement with third countries. A certain amount of confusion reigns, however, concerning the substance of these dossiers. On the illegal immigration chapter, several countries such as Italy, the United Kingdom and Austria are in favour of solutions that have a more national character, whereas others, such as Malta, prefer a European approach. On the subject of illegal immigration, the European Commissioner advocates gathering up all the job offers from third countries in order to then submit them to member states, in the hope that the latter will then lift their restrictions on quotas, at least for certain sectors that have a labour shortage. One diplomat said: “For ministers, it is, however, difficult to say that doors are being opened while, at the same time, expulsions continue”. Mr Frattini agreed, moreover, to tackle the request put forward by Sweden to include proposals on the problems of Iraqi asylum seekers on the agenda of the April Council. Currently, 70,000 Iraqi refugees are living in this country and over 9,000 asylum requests were introduced last y ear, that is, half of the 20,000 requests noted in the EU in 2006.
With regard to enlarging the Schengen Area to the states that became members of the EU in 2004, ministers confirmed the timetable for setting up “SIS One 4 All” and SIS II. The Presidency restated during the sitting that it had been difficult for the older member states to set out along the road of the “SIS One 4 All” and that, as a result, everything should be done to avoid further delays in setting SIS II in place. The latter, which was foreseen for June 2008, is not now expected to be in place before mid-December of the same year because of a six-month delay (EUROPE 9321), said Mr Frattini. States, such as the Czech Republic, are currently said to be lagging behind when it comes to compliance with security standards at ground borders. If this country were unable to enter the Schengen Area in time, this would mean that the borders between the Czech Republic and its neighbours (Poland and Slovakia) should also comply with Schengen standards, which is not foreseen at present. During the dinner held on 14 February, agreement was reached on the fact that informal meetings will be organised at regular intervals between home ministers, the current Presidency and the five future Presidencies for discussion on the future of EU home affairs. (bc)