Brussels, 05/12/2007 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission announced on Wednesday 5 December, that, in 2008, it will propose setting up a joint consular office in a third country where member states are relatively under-represented diplomatically.
This measure is part of an action plan for 2007-2009, brought forward the same day by the Commission, which aims to ensure that EU citizens travelling to third countries will have effective consular protection, providing them with assistance in the event of any problems developing. Every year, 80 million Europeans travel outside Europe, and between 30 and 50 million Europeans live outside the EU, according to recent Eurostat figures. It is estimated that, every year, around 9% of European citizens (some 7 million people) travel outside the EU visit countries where their member state has no consular or diplomatic representation. All 27 member states are represented in only three third countries: China, Russia and the United States. On the other hand, there are 18 countries in which member states are not represented and 17 others, like the Bahamas, Bhutan, Tonga, Barbados and the Maldives, where only one member state is represented. Several proposals feature in the Commission's action plan, with, firstly, the setting up a pilot project in 2008 for a joint consular office within European Commission delegations in third countries where member states have little representation. The member states in these common offices would provide consular protection services to all EU citizens, mainly to assist those states which are unable to have an office. The Commission thinks, even, that, in the future, this idea could be extended to other consular activities, for example providing visa application forms. For the moment, there are various office-sharing arrangements in Tanzania and Nigeria. The Netherlands and Italy share a building for their consular staffs in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. Germany could join them in 2008. The Commission says the idea would be to go beyond this basic sharing of accommodation to create rules for mutual representation. This would not mean any country's taking the place of another in terms of consular aid, even though, for the moment, the Commission's idea is not clearly defined, in that it will be up to member states, which alone have competence in this area, to decide whether or not they are prepared to delegate some of their work to the Commission. Several regions have been identified by the Commission as being able to house such joint offices (the Caribbean, West Africa, Central Africa and Asia).
The Commission has also recommended that member states print Article 20 of the treaty setting up the European Community in passports, so that citizens know their rights. This Article entitles any EU citizen to diplomatic and consular protection from a member state of which they are not nationals if their member state of origin does not have a Representation in the third country in question. Passports delivered after 1 July 2009 would contain Article 20. Passports delivered before that date could have a sticker, on which the Article was printed, attached. The Commission confirmed that it would in future continue to fund public information campaigns (posters, brochures, etc.) and training for member states' consular officials (€400,000 for 2008). In 2008, the Commission will create a web site on the Europa site to publish information on consular protection, with the intention of updating information on member states' representations in third countries. With effect from next year, the Commission also wants to discuss with member states the possibility of reviewing the scope of consular protection defined by decision 95/553/EC. The Commission also intends in 2008 to propose to negotiate a “consent clause” in “mixed” agreements with third countries, so that EU nationals enjoy consular and diplomatic protection.
Among actions for 2009, the Commission will consider providing telephone information on consular protection issues, although the idea of a single telephone number would appear to have been dropped. It will consider extending consular protection to EU citizens' family members who are third country nationals. It will also consider the need to simplify procedures for financial advances. Finally, it will consider the possibility of the EU's exercising protection through the Commission delegations in cases which fall under Community competence. (B.C.)