Brussels, 22/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - Although “significant progress” has been made in developing the Union as an area of freedom, security and justice, the heads of state and government stress the need to continue efforts undertaken, it is stated in the introduction to the European Council's draft conclusions on justice and home affairs. The European Council then reviews all policies in this sector such as: the overall approach to migration, enlargement of the Schengen Area, and policie and judiciary cooperation. Although the strengthening of these different policies is indeed the subject of consensus, two of them encounter major difficulties: on one hand against illegal immigration, in so far as States are unable to agree on who should host the illegal migrants rescued from the sea, thus tempering their enthusiasm to cooperate and, on the other hand, the refusal of some member states to harmonise a number of criminal procedures considered essential for citizens.
Still further in developing a real European immigration policy
A swift look at what is happening in the world today makes it easy to understand the crucial stakes involved in the immigration policy that the EU wants to set in place. Twenty-two illegal immigrants were still missing on Wednesday 21 June after the craft in which they were travelling sunk over 100 km off the Maltese coast. Several bodies have been recovered. The same thing happened early June, when some migrants had been rescued after several member states had refused to take them in. These recent events emphasise yet again that rapid progress must be made to develop an overall European migration policy, the EU27 stress in their draft conclusions.
Cooperation with third countries and triggering of European legal immigration policy. The heads of state and government point out that it is important to cooperate more closely with third countries in the management of migratory flows. They are in favour of specific partnerships on migration with third countries that could contribute to a coherent migration policy on well-managed “legal migration opportunities” - while respecting member states' competences and the specific needs of their labour markets, as, they say, legal immigration is still an integral part of the competences of member states, which are generally reticent to see the Commission encroach upon their authority. The possibility of mobility partnerships should be further explored as well as possibilities for circular migration in the light of the Commission's communication of 16 May 2007. To this end, the European Council endorses the the GAER Council conclusions of 18 June 2007 (EUROPE 9494). The European Council says it is also convinced that illegal work is “one main pull factor driving illegal immigrants”, and underlines he importance of the proposal for a directive providing rules to avoid the illegal employment of third country nationals (EUROPE 9248).
Border management and the fight against illegal immigration: The European Council reaffirms the need for the Union's capacity to contribute to the management of the external borders of the member states to be reinforced and underlines the importance of continuing to strengthen the capacity of FRONTEX for this purpose. The European Council calls for all parties concerned to do everything possible to ensure that the Rapid Border Intervention Teams - RABIT (see EUROPE 9411) - become operational as quickly as possible so that the new possibilities offered by the Coastal Patrol Network (EUROPE 9433) and the centralised “tool box” of technical equipment made available by member states is used to the full, including the stepping-up and strengthening of joint patrols. Commissioner Franco Frattini, however, had recently said that only 10% at the very most of the material initially proposed - aircraft, helicopters, boats - was now available (EUROPE 9440). The other stumbling block closely linked to the low contributions is the sharing out of the migrants rescued in the Central Mediterranean area. Once the migrants have been rescued, the member states are unable to agree on which state should take them in, with the risk that the migrants will be discarded and left to their fate (EUROPE 9445). As a result, European leaders were keen to reaffirm that “European solidarity” and an “equitable sharing of responsibilities” are among the founding principles of the EU.
Better border control: The European Council welcomes the recent agreement on the regulation and the decision on the visa information system (VIS) (see EUROPE 9444) to put in place and to use the world's largest database of biometric data from 2009. Integration: Similarly, the European Council notes with satisfaction the efforts made to improve the continued and deepened cooperation at EU level and between member states in the area of integration and intercultural dialogue - understood, with representatives of the Moslem community (see conclusions of JHA Council of 12 June: EUROPE 9446). It emphasises the importance of launching further initiatives. Asylum: the European Council is committed to setting up the Common European Asylum System by the end of 2010, as recommended by the Commission Green Paper launched in early June (see EUROPE 9440). Review: The European Council will review the state of implementation of the comprehensive migration policy at its next meeting in December 2007, on the basis of an interim progress from the Commission.
Extension of the Schengen Area on the way
The extension of the Schengen area remains “a high priority of the EU”, say the EU27, welcoming the preparatory work undertaken through the SOS One4All project and encourages the member states taking part in the project to continue to work for the lifting of controls at internal borders, at the end of December 2007 for land and sea borders, and by March 2008 at the latest for air borders. It also calls on the Commission to complete the remaining work within the scheduled time frame in order to finalise the SIS II project by December 2008 (see EUROPE 9444).
Need to improve police and judicial cooperation, despite constant blocking
Leaders call on the Council to continue its efforts to enhance police and judicial cooperation and to combat terrorism (the areas most often subject to unanimity), because, they say, citizens expect the EU and its member states to take “decisive action” to maintain their freedom and security. They also welcome the decision to integrate the essential provisions of the Prüm Treaty (“Schengen III”) into the EU's legal framework (see EUROPE 9444). They stress the importance of further strengthening Europol's operational capabilities, and welcome the Council decision to transform the Europol Convention into a Council Decision. Following the negotiations in the JHA Council, it would appear nonetheless that the final negotiations on Europol still face considerable difficulties. The European Council recommends a policy framework in the area of cybercrime, following the Commission communication (see EUROPE 9430). Concerned to strike the right balance between security and freedom, the European Council also calls on the Council to reach an agreement “before the end of the year” on the framework decision on protection of personal data processed in the framework of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, with member states still very divided on this issue (see EUROPE 9444). The most worrying point remains the persistent deadlock in the area of judicial cooperation. The JHA Council has been unable to come to a unanimous agreement on the framework for criminal procedures over the last three years (see EUROPE 9445). The European Council, therefore, calls on the Council to pursue debate on the text as soon as possible. However, it makes no mention of enhanced cooperation, an idea clearly expressed at the JHA Council. The European Council also takes note of the recent agreement on the framework decision on combating racism and xenophobia. Still in the area of criminal justice, the European Council notes the progress in developing legislation for the exchange of information on national criminal convictions and requests the Council to ensure that national criminal records systems become inter-connected through a European network as soon as possible. Emphasis should be put on “e-justice” in both criminal and civil areas. In civil justice, the Council is keen for there soon to be an agreement on the regulations on the applicable law relating to contractual obligations (Rome I), on jurisdiction and applicable law in matrimonial matters (Rome III) and on maintenance obligations (see EUROPE 9411).
In the end, leaders intend to call on the Commission and Council to consider measures to further enhance Europe's internal security, and the freedom and fundamental rights of citizens after 2010. This work has already begun since the German presidency has decided to set up a high level group to consider the future of the EU internal security policy, after the Hague programme (2004-2009) comes to an end. The second meeting of this group on the future of the JHA will take place in Brussels on 25 June (see EUROPE 9429). (bc)