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 Italian
commission says more controls needed on aid groups rescuing migrants (Reuters, link):
"An Italian
parliamentary commission said on Tuesday more controls needed
to be imposed on humanitarian organisations that are taking an
increasingly significant role in rescuing migrants from the Mediterranean."
See also: Refugee
crisis: latest news from across Europe (17.5.17) including: Commission takes
first steps against Hungary asylum law - for the second time
UK: Cage
director charged under Terrorism Act after failing to hand over
passwords
(The
Guardian, link):
"The
international director of Cage, Muhammad Rabbani, has been charged
under the Terrorism Act after refusing to hand over passwords
to his laptop at Heathrow airport."
EU: European
Arrest Warrant: reports on Eurojust casework 2014-16 and Member
States' prison conditions
EU judicial cooperation
agency Eurojust recently issued two reports: one examining its
casework in relation to the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) between
2014 and 2016, and the other summarising a recent debate held
by Member States' representatives at Eurojust on the topic of
EAWs and prison conditions.
EU
wastes no time welcoming prospect of Big Brother databases
- Justice and
Home Affairs database could cover terrorism, organised crime
and crime in general
- Centralised
database will cover "new and existing" databases with
proposals for biometric matching including facial images ("the
biometric of the future") and a "common repository"
of personal data on millions of people
- USA expresses
"interest" in EU plan for a single law enforcement
database
UK: Deputy
police and crime commissioner resigns following spycop reports
A deputy police
and crime commissioner has resigned following reports that he
worked as an undercover police officer in the early 1990s, infilitrating
political groups and deceiving a 19-year-old woman into a sexual
relationship.
SPAIN: 388
people die on the Spanish coasts in one year including 122 children
Between September
2015 and December 2016, 388 people died in their attempt to arrive
in Spain by boat. 31.4% of them were children and 7.9% of them
women, according to an extensive report by the NGO Caminando
Fronteras. The organisation documents that, behind these
deaths, beyond the risk implicit in the sea crossing, are deficiencies
in the rescue efforts at the southern border that "give
precedence to migration control over saving lives."
And see: Refugee
crisis: latest news from across Europe (15.5.17)
Statewatch Analysis: Who
drives EU counter-terrorism? On the legislation of the European
Union
(pdf) by Heiner Busch and Matthias Monroy:
The formal process
of developing and implementing EU counter-terrorism law and policy
begins with the heads of government, in the European Council,
setting out strategic guidelines. Thereafter, the Commission
produces proposals for laws and policies that are discussed by
the Council of the EU (made up of government officials) and the
Parliament. However, this formal task-sharing between the institutions
of the EU does not say much about the power relations and impulses
surrounding counter-terrorism policy.
EU: Council
pushes to "increase the feed and use of biometric data"
in draft conclusions on security checks and irregular migration
"The
effectiveness of cross-checking both regular and irregular migrants
against security databases depends to a large extent on the availability
of biometrics. Illegal border-crossings are often
undocumented, which means that it is impossible to run a check
against any security database unless biometrics are utilised."
BULGARIA: No access to a lawyer for first three days under
arrest: no problem, says European Court of Human Rights
"The Court found in particular
that Mr Simeonov’s conditions of detention, in combination
with the strict regime under which he was serving his sentence
and the length of his period of imprisonment since 1999, had
subjected him to an ordeal exceeding the suffering inherent in
serving a prison sentence, which had amounted to inhuman and
degrading treatment...
The Court
also found that Mr Simeonov’s right to legal assistance
had been restricted for the first three days of his police custody,
but that that restriction had not irremediably infringed the
criminal proceedings as a whole."
See: press
release
(pdf) and the judgment: Case
of Simeonovi v Bulgaria (application no. 21980/14, pdf)
EU: Council
in a twist over data retention judgment
The Council of
the European Union is really struggling to finds ways around
the Court of European Justice judgment in "Tele 2 and Watson".
Refugee
crisis: latest news from across Europe (12-14.5.17)
EU:
Council of the European Union: Blue Card
("Legal" Migration) and ETIAS: Developing its negotiating positions.
UK: Police
drop investigation into racist gang stabbing of refugee child
and tell him 'don't go out alone at night' (Independent, link)
"Exclusive:
Search for men who beat Eritrean boy in hate crime attack abandoned,
in same week Britain First are accused of targeting asylum seekers
in the area."
Council of the European Union: Proposal
for a Regulation on the protection of individuals with regard
to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions,
bodies, offices and agencies... Preparation for a general approach (LIMITE doc no: 8431-17,
pdf): Following on from the General Regulation on the processing
of personal data comes an important follow-up facing a bit of
a rushed procedure:
"The
rules of the Regulation on data protection rules for Union institutions,
bodies, offices and agencies and those of the General Data Protection
Regulation should be coherent, aligned as far as possible and
applicable as of the same date: 25 May 2018."
"State of play: "Changes to the Commission proposal
are indicated in bold. DK, FI, SI, UK and the Commission maintain
a general scrutiny reservation on this text..... The European
Parliament is expected to establish its position on the proposal
at its October Plenary session....
Conclusion: The Presidency invites the Permanent Representatives
Committee to endorse the text of the Regulation on data protection
rules for Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies as
it appears in Annex with a view to the adoption of a general
approach on this text at the Council (JHA) on 8/9 June."
EU:
Council of the European Union: Qualifications
Directive
- With substantive reservations by Member States:
• Revision
2
(LIMITE doc no: 8968-REV-2-17, 11 May 2017, pdf): With 186 Footnotes
with Member State positions: "New or modified text compared
to the previous version of this document is to be found in Recitals
(36a) and (41a), in Article 2 (9) and (14) and in Article 28
(2)."
• Revision
1
of text (LIMITE doc no: 8968-REV-1-17, 10 May 2017, pdf): 186
Footnotes with Member State positions "Comments made
by delegations on the Commission proposal text and on the Presidency
compromise proposals, orally and in writing, as well as explanations
given by the Presidency, appear in the footnotes of the Annex."
• Proposal
for a Regulation on standards for the qualification of third-country
nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international
protection...
(LIMITE doc no: 8968-17, 10 May 2017, pdf): 187 Footnotes with
Member State positions: "The attention of the delegations
is drawn to the fact that , following the JHA Counsellors meeting
on 16 May, the Presidency intends to submit the text to Coreper
and subsequently to the Council for a partial general agreement."
EU: European Parliament: Reception Directive: Report:
on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and
of the Council laying down standards for the reception of applicants
for international protection (recast) (pdf) Details the parliament's proposed
amendments.
See also Council
developing its position: Proposal
for a Directive laying down standards for the reception of applicants
for international protection (recast) (LIMITE doc no: 8258-17, pdf): The Council
developing its position before entering trilogue meetings with
the European Parliament. Lots of amendments from the Council
Presidency and with 134 Footnotes with Member States' positions:
"The text of the proposal in Annex contains modifications
suggested by the Presidency in relation to all articles except
for the recitals: placed in square brackets, to be discussed
at a later stage."
Eric Kempson reports from Lesvos that: "Two boats landed
in the south east coast of lesvos early in the morning, 109 people,
as far as we know every ones ok" See also:
Greek Ministry: 12-5-17 (pdf)
Entry-Exit System (EES) Council of the
European Union: Mandate
for negotiations with the European Parliament (Doc no: 6960-17, pdf):
"The changes vis-à-vis the Commission proposal
are highlighted in underline and […]."
And see: The
European Parliament's amendments to the Commission proposal (pdf)
A second, secret,
trilogue meeting of the Council and parliament was held on 10
May 2017.
Refugee
crisis: latest news from across Europe (11.5.17) including: 500 people turned
back to Libya after altercation with NGO ship
UK: An
AI Will Decide Which Criminals in the UK Get Bail (Motherboard, link):
"Get
arrested in Durham, England, and artificial intelligence could
help decide whether you're held in custody or sent home—but
it's not yet clear if the algorithm is more accurate than police
officers when it comes to assessing whether someone is likely
to reoffend."
Top reports
See: Resources
for researchers: Statewatch Analyses: 1999-ongoing
SECILE Project:
Borderline: The EU's New Border Surveillance Initiatives:
Assessing the Costs and Fundamental Rights Implications of EUROSUR
and the "Smart Borders" Proposals (pdf) A study by the
Heinrich Böll Foundation. Written by Dr. Ben Hayes and Mathias
Vermeulen: "Unable to tackle the root of the problem,
the member states are upgrading the Union’s external borders.
Such a highly parochial approach taken to a massive scale threatens
some of the EU’s fundamental values - under the pretence
that one’s own interests are at stake. Such an approach
borders on the inhumane."
How the EU works and justice and home
affairs decision-making (pdf)
Statewatch's
20th Anniversary Conference, June 2011: Statewatch
conference speeches
TNI/Statewatch:
Counter-terrorism,
'policy laundering' and the FATF - legalising surveillance, regulating
civil society
(pdf) by Ben Hayes
Statewatch publication:
Guide
to EU decision-making and justice and home affairs after the
Lisbon Treaty
(pdf) by Steve Peers, Professor of Law, University of Essex,
with additional material by Tony Bunyan
Neoconopticon: the EU security-industrial
complex
(pdf) by Ben Hayes
The Shape of Things to Come (pdf) by Tony Bunyan
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