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Europe - in brief (6)

01 January 1997

EU: Ship's log of passengers proposed: a Council directive on the registration of people sailing on passenger ships has been proposed. Primarily intended for search and rescue operations in the event of a disaster it places an obligation of all ship owners (carrying more than 12 people) to compile a register of those on board - names, gender and age category. Journeys of less than 20 miles are exempted. Although the proposal calls for adherence to the EU directive on data protection and for holding records only until the journey is completed it does allow for "The required data" to be "easily accessible to the authorities" on whom no obligation to destroy the records is placed. OJ C 31/8, 31.1.97.

EU-Switzerland meeting: at a meeting on 22 January the EU and Switzerland agreed a deal to cooperate on customs operations which would allow breaches of customs rules to be dealt with. One prime target is "transit fraud" concerning suspected organised criminal networks. European Voice, 30.1.97.

Europol: German ratification hold-up: Despite promises by Chancellor Kohl that Germany would quickly ratify the Europol Convention the Bundesrat, the second chamber of the German Bundesländer, has voted that all 16 Bundesländer have to each consider the Convention. On 31 January the Bundesrat criticised the Convention and were concerned over judicial control and the transfer of information from the Bundesländer to Europol in the Hague. Bundesrats-Drucksache, 957/96.