Brussels, 23/01/2008 (Agence Europe) - At their informal meeting on 25-26 January in Brdo, Slovenia, EU ministers will begin a much awaited debate on the proposal relating to the use of personal passenger data (“Passenger Name Records” - PNR) for law enforcement purposes. This first round of talks on the European PNR will take place at the European ministers of the interior lunch, where they will also discuss progress in the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II). Before lunch, the Slovenian presidency has included practical discussions in the morning programme on future cooperation on asylum and the interim report from the group that will be working in the area of internal affairs.
Justice ministers will begin work on Friday with a working lunch on the future group to be set up in their different areas of competence. The E-Justice project and the setting up of a European portal will be the themes of the Friday afternoon discussion. The meeting will finish on Saturday afternoon with talks about the draft regulation on divorce (ROME III).
“European PNR”. The draft framework decision includes obligations for aeroplanes to collect data on all passengers flying to or from an EU member state (EUROPE 9536). It does not involve intra-European flights. This is the first time that the text will be examined at a ministerial level. The Slovenian presidency intended to base the discussion on several points, such as the need for such a measure with regard to: the EU/US agreement (EUROPE 9478) and the British PNR; security, the private sector and data protection. Ministers will also discuss the scope and legal basis for this instrument, which comes out of Title 6 of the EC Treaty and includes consultation with the European Parliament. Should this legal basis be developed so that the EP can benefit from codecision? This is one of the questions which ministers will attempt to answer, especially from the perspective of the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, which includes a passage on codecision. If they choose to keep the status quo, member states will then be forced to adopt the text rapidly, before the date of the treaty's entry into force. On the other hand, if a decision were taken to amend the legal basis now, in view of codecision with the EP, member states would be able to avoid having to amend the text later on and under threat of a possible call for annulment by the Court. The alternative to cooperation with the EP includes, however, a risk of the text's field of application being limited. A diplomatic source indicated that overall, the first informal meetings between member states would suggest that the proposal “so far does not create a lot of enthusiasm” among the many delegations, because there are too many questions. Discussions will still be taking some time before a blank cheque is given to any real examination of the text.
SIS II. Implementation of this system by the Commission is mainly behind schedule because of subcontractor problems. The introduction of SIS II is expected before the end of 2008. But given the difficulties, the new scenario would include gradual SIS II implementation (connecting each member state in turn) from 2009 at the latest. The presidency wants to create a follow-up system of work at the Council in parallel with that implemented by the Commission. Depending on how the discussions go, a new schedule could be re-submitted in February.
Ministers of the interior will also discuss fostering practical cooperation between the national bodies responsible for asylum, as well as the remit of the future European Support Office. The debate on the future group's interim report, which is in charge of examining the follow-up to The Hague programme, will help identify some possible ways of fighting terrorism and crime and working on external and immigration issues.
Justice. The thorny problem facing ministers will be the draft regulation of 2006 on provisions applicable to cross-border divorce “Rome II” (EUROPE 9234). During the most recent meeting of experts on this theme on Monday 21 January, Sweden confirmed that it could not accept the text because of its fears that stricter legislation than its own could be applied on its territory, such as Islamic Sharia law. Ministers will examine the future of the European Justice Area and discuss themes such as what methods could help them improve cooperation between states. Cooperation has been undermined over recent years. A debate is expected on e-justice, the high point of which will be the setting up of the electronic justice portal, which is still suffering from logistical problems. Ministers will try and push forward the work on legislation applying to food allowances and will take note of a new draft framework decision on the recognition of judgements made in absentia. (B.C.)