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a "Friend of Statewatch"
 EU-USA Justice and Home
Affairs meeting
Migration,
counter-terrorism and transnational crime - Awaiting CJEU opinion on PNR Canada scheduled
for 26 July
The first "meeting
with the new US Administration at ministerial level": Outcome
of the EU – US Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Meeting,Valletta,
15-16 June 2017 (LIMITE doc no: 10483-17, pdf):
EU-G20:
Remarks
by President Donald Tusk before the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany (pdf):
Tusk is seeking
support to tackle "the unprecedented wave of illegal migration"
through "targeted UN sanctions against smugglers" in
north Africa. However, he notes that:
"Unfortunately
I have to say that today we do not have the full support even
for this minimum. If we do not get it, it will be a sad proof
of the hypocrisy of some of the G20 members..."
Perhaps this
is because he refers to everyone arriving in the EU as "irregular
migrants" (who anyway have the right to claim asylum) and
not as refugees and migrants. He also refer only to "smuggling"
not trafficking - two legally distinct concepts.
Refugee
crisis: latest news from across Europe (6-7.7.17)
Central
Mediterranean: Death toll soars as EU turns its back on refugees
and migrants
(Amnesty, link):
"The
soaring death toll in the central Mediterranean and the horrific
abuses faced by thousands of refugees and migrants in Libyan
detention centres are clearly linked to failing EU policies,
said Amnesty International in a report published today.
A perfect storm: The failure of European
policies in the Central Mediterranean finds that by ceding
the lion’s share of responsibility for search and rescue
to NGOs and by increasing cooperation with the Libyan coastguard,
European governments are failing to prevent drownings and turning
a blind eye to abuse, including torture and rape.
EU Ministers
meeting in Tallinn today are set to discuss new proposals that
will make a dire situation worse."
See: Presidency
of the Council: Ministers
of Interior agree on more robust approach to migration pressure (press releaes, pdf)
EU: Action
Plan for Central Mediterranean: mandatory code of conduct for
NGOs, massive expansion of detention and hotspots in Italy
The European
Commission has published an Action Plan containing a swathe of
measures "to support Italy, reduce pressure along the Central
Mediterranean Route and increase solidarity," in order to
try to address the "structural challenge" represented
by the "loss of life and continuing migratory flows of primarily
economic migrants on the Central Mediterranean route."
This includes
a proposal for Italy and the Commission to draw up a code of
conduct for NGOs conducting search and rescue missions, and demands
for Italy to massively increase the capacity of its hotspots
and its detention centres as well as extending the maximum period
of detention up to 18 months, the maximum allowed under EU law.
And see: Refugee
crisis: latest news from across Europe (5.7.17)
EU: Frontex
in the Balkans: Serbian government rejects EU's criminal immunity
proposals
The Serbian government
is not happy with EU proposals that Frontex teams would be able
to operate on its territory with total immunity from Serbian
law. After two rounds of talks between the EU and Serbia, the
text of a proposed agreement that would govern Frontex teams'
joint operations, "rapid border interventions" or return
operations in the Western Balkan country shows that the Serbian
side rejects the EU's proposal that "members of the team
shall enjoy immunity" from the administrative, civil and
criminal jurisdiction of the Republic of Serbia.
GERMANY:
Hamburg
is transforming itself into an Orwellian dystopia for the G20
Summit
(OpenDemocracy,
link):
"on July
7 and 8, your city will take security measures that are extreme
even by G20 standards. Andy Grote, your senator of the interior,
went back on a previous promise to not ban demonstrations and
declared a general decree forbidding any kind of assembly in
a territory of 38 km2.
Predator drones,
usually deployed in warzones, will circle the skies, tanks will
be out on the streets, and over 15,000 police officers are expected
to be on patrol, including those on horseback and with dogs.
Robots deployed
by U.S. secret services will crawl through sewers and subway
tunnels (doing what exactly? No-one knows since the U.S. won’t
give us any information about them!) Hamburg will be transformed
into an Orwellian dystopia of complete surveillance, enforced
by paramilitary means; a democracy-free area."
UK: Suicide
and self-harm in prisons hit worst ever levels (The Guardian, link):
"Prisons
have “struggled to cope” with record rates of suicide
and self-harm among inmates following cuts to funding and staff
numbers, the public spending watchdog has said. The National
Audit Office said it remains unclear how the authorities will
meet aims for improving prisoners’ mental health or get
value for money because of a lack of relevant data."
See: National
Audit Office report: Mental
health in prisons (pdf) and: Summary (pdf)
RACE & CLASS: Prison
resistance and black self-defence (link)
"Read
new and re-released material from Race & Class on black prison
resistance, the role of the Black Panthers, and the influence
of US rebellions on the struggle in the UK."
EU: Total
information awareness for law enforcement: "turning point"
reached, says EU police technology network
- Police foresee
immediate 24/7 access to data/profiles, images, videos, biometrics
on everyone stopped, checked or under surveillance with automatic
flagging on what action to take
- Mobile technologies to access ID profiles from local, national
and international records, gather photos and videos and be used
for covert surveillance
European
Border and Coast Guard report
- 72% of returns
inside Europe: 101 return flights to the West Balkans and only
41 outside the EU
- Deploying "assets"
to frontline Member States: thermo-vision vehicles, dog teams,
CO2 detectors and smartdeck cameras
Refugee crisis: latest news from across
Europe (1- 4.7-17)
EU: Restricted
document highlights plans for ongoing EU interventions in Libya
The EU's plans to
re-establish functioning government institutions in Libya and
to halt the flow of people across the Mediterranean are outlined
in a restricted document currently being discussed by officials
in Brussels. The detailed Strategic
Review on EUBAM Libya, EUNAVFOR MED Op Sophia & EU Liaison
and Planning Cell (9202/17, 15 May 2017, RESTREINT/RESTRICTED, pdf),
produced by the European External Action Service, proposes extending
until December 2018 the Mediterranean military mission EUNAVFOR
MED/Operation, the EU Border Assistance Mission Libya (EUBAM
Libya) and the work of the EU Planning and Liaison Cell (EUPLC),
based in Brussels.
EU: Commission, France, Germany and Italy
- Joint "Declaration": Italy to draw up a "Code
of Conduct" to bring NGOs operating in the Med under state
control: Press
release,
pdf):
The measures
proposed contains many previous ideas: increasing "relocation"
in the EU (which has failed miserably), increasing "returns"
(which are low), helping Libyan Coast Guards and enhancing "readmission
rates" to Africa.
But top of the
list is a new proposal to:
"Work
on a code of conduct for NGO's, to be drafted and presented
by Italy, in order to improve coordination with NGO's operating
in the Mediterranean Sea....
In order to
allow swift progress in support of Italy, the Ministers of Interior
of France, Germany and Italy and the European Commissioner for
Migration and Home Affairs call on all EU partners to consider
these action points at the next EU informal Council meeting in
Tallinn on 6 July."
Statewatch Analysis: Policing
the internet: how Europol takes action against undesirable content
online
(pdf) by Kilian Vieth (Translation by Viktoria Langer):
Europol removes
content from the internet. This approach goes beyond regular
measures in the fight against terrorism propaganda and mixes
police work and media regulation. Should a police agency be responsible
for the surveillance and control of Facebook posts and tweets?
EU: Centralised
biometric database for convicted non-EU nationals also part of
"interoperability" agenda
Proposals published
last week by the European Commission will see the development
of a new a centralised database holding the criminal records
of non-EU citizens, alongside their fingerprints and photographs.
"Although
it is possible to exchange information on convictions concerning
third country nationals and stateless persons (hereinafter: TCN)
through ECRIS [the European Criminal Records Information System]
today, there is no procedure or mechanism in place to do so efficiently,"
says the Commission, and thus a new system is required that will
simplify the process and leave the door open for future "interoperability"
initiatives with other EU databases and information systems.
EU: Entry-Exit system (EES): Nearing agreement
- some "technical" issues still outstanding
UK: Upper Tribunal (Immigration
and Asylum Chamber): No more returns to Libya
"The violence in Libya
has reached such a high level that substantial grounds are shown
for believing that a returning civilian would, solely on account
of his presence on the territory of that country or region, face
a real risk of being subject to a threat to his life or person."
See: Decision:
full-text (pdf)
Refugee
crisis: latest news from across Europe (29-30.6.17)
EU: European Parliament Study: Towards an EU
common position on the use of armed drones (pdf):
"Since the European Parliament
(EP) passed a resolution on the use of armed drones in February
2014, it has pointed several times to the need for a common EU
position on the matter. It has stressed in particular the importance
of ensuring compliance with international human rights and
humanitarian law when using armed drones.... Furthermore,
progress has been made recently in agreeing a joint EU position
regarding the related matter of lethal autonomous weapons." [emphasis added]
See also: Towards
a European Position on the Use of Armed Drones? A Human Rights
Approach (ICCT, pdf): "The authors’ conclusions
include observations on the need for and possible ways to obtain
information, challenges for the use of armed drones generally,
and legal challenges and recommendations."
EU: Interoperability
and EU databases: Big Brother takes shape
• Press release: Security
Union: Commission delivers on interoperability of EU information
systems
(pdf): "The Commission is today delivering on its
commitment to ensure interoperability and address the existing
shortcomings of EU information systems for security and border
management, as set out by the Commission in its 7th Security
Union Report on 16 May and endorsed by the European Council of
22-23 June. As a first step, the Commission is proposing to
strengthen the mandate of the EU Agency for the operational management
of large scale IT systems (eu-LISA), enabling it to develop and
roll-out the technical solutions to make the EU information systems
interoperable." [emphasis added]
• Extending eu-LISA mandate: Proposed
Regulation on the European Agency for the operational management
of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and
justice, and amending Regulation (EC) 1987/2006 and Council Decision
2007/533/JHA and repealing Regulation (EU) 1077/2011 (pdf): "aims
at inserting in the Regulation changes deriving from policy,
legal or factual developments and in particular to reflect
the fact that new systems will be entrusted to the Agency
subject to agreement by the co-legislators and that the Agency
should be tasked with contributing to the development of interoperability
between large-scale IT systems in the follow-up to the 6
April 2016 Commission Communication on Stronger and Smarter Information
Systems for borders and security, the final report of the
High-level expert group on information systems and interoperability
of 11 May 2017...." [emphasis added]
• Factsheet: EU
information systems (pdf) includes: "Who can access which
database?"
In order to put smugglers
on the UN list we need the UN Security Council members to agree.
The G20 format seems to be a good forum to bring it to the table."
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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