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news e-mail list: Latest e-mail alert: 31 December 2008 News
in brief including: Interpol wants facial recognition database
to catch suspects/Passport Service dismisses 14 for database
abuses/UK: 10,000 tasers for police
Remote Controls:
how UK border controls are endangering the lives of refugees: Refugee Council (link,
pdf)
EU: Access to documents Regulation: Czech Senate comes out against
Commission's definition of a "document": Czech
Senate resolution, pdf) In response EU Commissioner Wallstrom says
in a Replying
letter:
"The definition of the concept of "document" in the proposal remains very wide. It is not intended to restrict the number of documents falling within the scope of the Regulation. On the one hand, it defines the point in time when a document drawn up by an institution becomes a "document" in the meaning of the Regulation. As long as a document is in progress, it is not yet a "document"; it is a "document" once it has been finalised by its author and sent to its internal or external recipients or, if it has not been sent to recipients, once it has been "otherwise registered", e.g. deposited in the relevant case file."
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
"Under the Commission's proposal only the final document would be a "document". All the draft proposal documents would not be "documents", which means that all the changes, options, discussions would be secret and hidden from public view and scrutiny. The lifeblood of a democracy is the ability of parliaments, civil society and citizens to know what is being discussed and to make their views known before the final "document" is set in stone."
See also: UK Government does not support the Commission's proposal to change the definition of a "document" in Article 3a of the Regulation: House of Commons: European Scrutiny Committee (See Point 6.10, link).
For background see: Observatory: the Regulation on access to EU documents: 2008-2009
EU-ISRAEL ARMS EXPORTS: Arms exports to Israel from
EU worth €200m (euobserver, link) Background: 10th
Annual Report : Code of conduct on arms exports (374 pages, link) and
GRIP
report
(link)
UK: Ministers
drop resistance to making meeting details public (Guardian, link):
"Gordon Brown and other ministers face the threat of having their official meetings made public knowledge after the government finally dropped its resistance to a three-and-a half-year campaign by an MP under freedom of information legislation."
EU: Council questionnaire: Summary of
the answers given in reply to the questionnaire on the situation
where several Member States have jurisdiction to conduct criminal
proceedings for the same facts of an alleged criminal offence (pdf)
EU: Justice and Home Affairs Council: Agendas under the Czech
Council Presdiency, January-June 2009: Agendas (See pages 23-34, pdf)
EU: The
End of the Road for Personal Data Protection in the EU (Jurist, link): article
by Virginia Keyder who teaches European Union law at Bogazici
University and Sabanci University in Istanbul, Turkey.
EU Council Presidency: Israel
ground op in Gaza 'defensive not offensive' (link)
EU: ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS REGULATION: UK Government does not support
the Commission's proposal to change the definition of a "document"
in Article 3a of the Regulation: House
of Commons: European Scrutiny Committee (See Point 6.10, link). It is also interesting
to note that the Government Minister interprets the Commission's
proposed change to mean that it will exclude all "draft
documents". For background see: Observatory:
the Regulation on access to EU documents: 2008-2009
EU-USA-PNR: US Department of Homeland Security: Privacy Office:
A
report concerning Passenger Name Record information derived from
flights between the US and the European Union (pdf). Using a ludicrously
small number of samples, ie, six to seven, the DHS Privacy Office
found that:
- "requests
for PNR took more than one year to process" - far exceeding
the legal time limits in the US Privacy Act and Freedom on Information
Act and there were "inconsistencies" as to which "information
was redacted" (censored);
- individuals requesting "all data" are not given their
PNR data;
- as a result of the majority of individuals who should have
been sent their PNR data were not
- there was a large backlog of unanswered requests because of lack of staff.
For background
see: Can
you really see what records are kept about your travel? (Edward Hasbrouck's
blog)
and Statewatch's Observatory
on the exchange of data on passengers (PNR) with the USA
Germany: Unlawful
“anti-terrorist” investigation into G8 activists (Statewatch story)
Italy: A
proliferation of forbidden behaviour (Statewatch story)
European Ombudsman report: Public access to
information in EU databases (pdf). For background see: Wobbing (link)
December 2008
UK: Private
firm may track all email and calls: 'Hellhouse' of personal data
will be created, warns former DPP (Guardian, link):
"It would be a complete readout of every citizen's life in the most intimate and demeaning detail. No government of any colour is to be trusted with such a roadmap to our souls." Sir Ken Macdonald, the former director of public prosecutions
Italy-Tunisia: Allowing
someone to live or letting them die: Italy contravenes European
Court of Human Rights instructions by deporting Tunisian
by Gabriella Petti:
"Six days have passed since Mourad Trabelsi's expulsion, yet we know nothing about his fate once he arrived in Tunisia. His relatives have looked for him in prisons without any results, and his lawyer has not received any news. The Italian government has probably co-operated with the umpteenth disappearance of an individual involved in trials for international terrorism.* According to lawyers, many of those expelled, when they return to their countries of origin, have been arrested, subjected to torture and and have sometimes disappeared. In this case, we are dealing with someone who was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment that he has just served in an Italian prison, with a further twenty years to serve in a Tunisian jail, following a sentence issued in absentia in his country of origin."
EU: FRONTEX: Frontex
General Report 2007 (63 pages, pdf)
Amnesty International report: Migration-related
detention a global concern (pdf)
Spain: CEAR
expresses concern over asylum law reform (Statewatch)
UK: Jacqui
calls Vodafone man to run massive snoop database (Register, link):
"Exclusive A senior Vodafone network architecture specialist has been appointed by Jacqui Smith to draw up proposals for a multibillion pound central silo of communications data, amid a Whitehall row about the future of the project, The Register has learned.
The Home Office team responsible for the Interception Modernisation Programme (IMP) have been told to make the case for the expansion of state surveillance it would involve again, according to insiders."
EU: Czech Data Protection President: Democracy
is flourishing, but not individual freedom (pdf):
"On the threshold of the 21st century we are witnesses
to a reinforcing of democracy, but it seems that the freedom
of the individual has become less important. As though collective
problems such as global climate change or the defence against
terrorism have been prioritised to the detriment of personal
freedom. Measures are now being implemented regardless of the
risks, difficulties and costs they can present for the individual,
restricting his or her freedom, such as the right to privacy."
Igor Nemec. President of the Czech Office for Personal Data
Protection.
UK: Information Commissioner's response
to Home Affairs Select Committee report: A
Surveillance Society?: Information Commissioner’s Response
to the Committee’s Fifth Report of Session 2007–08
(pdf). Background: A
Surveillance Society?: The Government reply to the report from the Home
affairs Committee (pdf). See: Government
stands by data sharing: The Home Office has said that joining
up existing government systems reduces the need for big new databases (link) Background: Report
on the "Surveillance society" by the House of Commons
Home Affairs Select Committee: Report:
Vol 1
(1.5 MB, pdf) Evidence
Vol 2
(1.6 MB, pdf).
UK: What
terror jury was not told: "They tore my nails out. Then
I was interrogated by MI5" (Guardian, link) - Britons
found guilty of al-Qaida membership - Convicted man alleged torture
by Pakistani agents
EU: Justice and Home Affairs
"Agenda": Statewatch analysis: The
EU’s JHA agenda for 2009 (pdf) by Professor Steve
Peers, University of Essex
ECJ: Huber v Germany: The processing
and storage of those data relating to Union citizens for statistical
purposes or with a view to fighting crime is contrary to Community
law
(Press release, pdf) and Judgment - full-text (Judgment, pdf)
"as regards the question of the use of the data contained in the register for the purposes of fighting crime, the Court holds, in particular, that that objective involves the prosecution of crimes and offences committed, irrespective of the nationality of their perpetrators. The register at issue does not contain personal data relating to nationals of the Member State concerned. Consequently, use for the purposes of fighting crime is contrary to the principle of non-discrimination and hence contrary to Community law." (emphasis in original)
EU-FRONTEX: Pro Asyl: Appeal to the European
Parliament ”Stop the death trap at the European Borders!“
More than 1500 documented cases of deaths at the doors of Europe
over the last 12 months illustrate a serious human rights record
(Press release, pdf) and Petition
to the European Parliament:
Year by year thousands die at Europe´s borders. Stop the
deathtrap at the EU borders! (Petition, pdf)
EU:
Ombudsman
criticises age discrimination by the Commission Special report, pdf):
"The European Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, has criticised the European Commission's discrimination against freelance interpreters who are older than 65. This follows a complaint from an interpreter who stopped receiving job offers after he turned 65, although he wanted to continue working.
The Ombudsman made a proposal for a friendly solution in which he asked the Commission to abandon this discriminatory policy. He also suggested that the Commission compensate the complainant. The Commission rejected his proposals. The Ombudsman has now sent a special report to the European Parliament (EP) asking it to support his position.
Mr Diamandouros said: "The European Parliament has abolished its discriminatory policies after my intervention. It is therefore even more regrettable that the Commission still discriminates against persons on grounds of age."
Also from the European Ombudsman: Follow-up to Critical and further remarks: How the EU institutions responded to the Ombudsman's Recommendations in 2007 (pdf)
How
a child dies in Venice: 11-year-old Afghan boy dies to avoid
controls by the border police
"He was fifteen
years old. No, he was twelve. Maybe, in reality, he was only
eleven. As the day progressed, his age changed several times,
turning increasingly younger. In any case, he was a boy. He was
found dead in Via Orlanda in Mestre, Venice, run over by the
lorry under which he had hidden to escape the checks by the border
police. Why, one would wonder, does an Afghan minor, a figure
that is well protected by international conventions, by the ECHR,
and even by the Bossi-Fini law [on immigration], risk his life
in such a way in order to avoid being intercepted by the border
police?"
USA-TORTURE: Senate
Armed Services Committee Inquiry into the treatment of detainees
in US Custody
(pdf)
EU-EP: Conservatives
and Socialists block search for rendition truth - Ludford (Press release, pdf):
"The Socialist (PSE) and Conservative (EPP) groups, which together have a majority in the European Parliament, have allied to deny a request made by the Liberal, Green and the Communist groups for a debate on Guantanamo and the CIA extraordinary rendition programme in next week's European Parliamentary plenary session in Strasbourg."
Deadline: 31 December 2008: THE ALTERNATIVE CONSULTATION
ON EU JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS POLICY
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on
the future priorities in the field of Justice and Home Affairs
policy. The European Civil Liberties Network has produced
an alternative questionnaire to provoke a more wide ranging debate
about EU policy and practice.
Please take a few moments to complete the survey and have your
say on EU justice and home affairs policy: Complete
survey
For more information about the ECLN survey, see: the ECLN
survey
EU-EP: Report
on the situation of fundamental rights in the European Union
2004-2008: Committee on Civil Liberties: Rapporteur: Giusto Catania
(As adopted by the LIBE Committee, pdf)
Renditions/Italy:
Interpretation
of "state secret" leads to suspension of Abu Omar trial
GREECE: The police shooting and death of 15-year-old Alexis
Grigoropoulos: Athens
riots spin totally out of control Athens riots spin totally out
of control (kathimerini, link):
"Epaminondas Korkoneas, the 37-year-old police officer who is alleged to have shot the teenager Alexis Grigoropoulos is a special guard, a force that was created in 1999 but fully inducted into the police only this year.
Special guards were intended to take on more menial tasks, such as guarding buildings, so that regular police officers would be able to take up other duties.
Speaking to Kathimerini, the legal counsel of the Attica Police Officers’ Union, Vaios Skambardonis, said that police officers are advised that they should only use their revolvers if human life is in danger.
However, footage of Saturday’s shooting, captured by a witness on her mobile phone does not appear to show Korkoneas and his colleague coming under any kind of threat.
The blurred, dark images appear to show the police officer standing at some distance from the 15-year-old and other youths.
There appear to be no signs of the police officers coming under any kind of attack.
Korkoneas has been charged with murder and illegal use of a weapon while his colleague has been charged as an accomplice."
See also: Riot-hit Athens to bury teenager (BBC News, link); Greece, Thessaloniki: Communique from the Ocupied School of Theatre (Indymedia, link) and Indymedia - Greece (English, link)
EU/Africa/Indian Ocean: Fortress
Europe blog details 41 deaths in November 2008
EU: European Parliament: Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE): Compromise
report on fingerprinting children (pdf). The LIBE Committee
will today consider this report which "provisionally"
sets the age limit for the taking of fingerprints from children
as 12 years old - Member States which have already adopted national
laws for a lower age are allowed to carry on - for these states
a lower age limit is set at 6 years old. The Commission is to
prepare a report:
"based on a large scale
and in-depth study carried out by an independent authority and
supervised by the Commission, which shall examine the reliability
and
technical feasibility, including through an evaluation of the
accuracy of the systems in operation, of using the fingerprints
of children under the age of 14 for identification and verification
purposes, including a comparison of the false rejection rates
occurring in each Member State and - based on the results of
that study - an analysis of the need for common rules regarding
the matching process."
An interesting Joint Statement is attached as regards: "unreliable "breeder documents"":
"The passport in itself
is only one link of a security chain starting from the presentation
of the breeder documents, to the enrolment of biometric data
and ending with the matching at the border check points. This
chain will only be as secure as its weakest link.
The European Parliament and the Council note that there is a
great diversity of situations and procedures in the Member States
regarding which "breeder documents" should be produced
in order to request the issuing of a passport and that normally
these documents have less security features than the passport
in itself, and are more likely to be subjected to forgery and
counterfeiting.
The Council shall therefore prepare a questionnaire for the Member States in order to be able to compare the procedures and which documents are required in each Member State in order to issue a passport or travel document."
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
"It is to be welcomed that the European Parliament has insisted on a "provisional" limit of 12 years old for the taking of fingerprints from children. However, the taking of childrens' fingerprints is not just a "technical" question it is a moral and political one. Children do not have the right of "informed consent" and their fingerprints will be kept for the rest of their lives.
The Joint Statement on "unreliable "breeder documents" which recognises they "are more likely to be subjected to forgery and counterfeiting" begs major questions. To put in place a binding Regulation before ascertaining what the situation is in every member state, setting common security and privacy standards and providing sufficient time for these standards to be implemented is quite simply irresponsible."
Europe's
big brothers - As we celebrate the human rights legacy of the
last 60 years, the right to a private life is threatened more
than ever (Guardian, link) by Thomas Hammarberg (Council
of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights) and Ben Hayes (Statewatch)
See also: The
Shape of Things to Come - the EU Future Group
UK: Sussex
students arrested under anti-terror laws - A
new interactive online map reveals the nature of police activity
in Brighton during an anti-war march
CoE: Excellent report from the Commissioner for Human Rights
of the Council of Europe, Thomas Hammerberg: Protecting
the right to privacy in the fight against terrorism (pdf).
From Press release: "Counter-terrorism measures must
not trample on the right to privacy" says Commissioner Hammarberg
Strasbourg, 4 December 2008
- "Freedom has been compromised in the fight against terrorism
after 11 September. Government decisions have undermined
human rights principles with flawed arguments about improved
security" says the Council of Europe's Commissioner for
Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, on the eve of the publication
of his issue paper on "Protecting the right to privacy in
the fight against terrorism."
"Not only terrorism, but also our reaction to it pose a long-term, engrained threat to human rights. The time has come to review steps taken to collect, store, analyse, share and use personal data" said Commissioner Hammarberg. "Data protection is crucial to the upholding of fundamental democratic values: A surveillance society risks infringing this basic right."
"In the war on terror, the notion of privacy has been altered" he continued. "General surveillance raises serious democratic problems which are not answered by the repeated assertion that those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear. This puts the onus in the wrong place: It should be for States to justify the interferences they seek to make on privacy rights."
EU:
European Network Against Racism: Executive
summary: racism in europe enar shadow report 2007 (pdf)
Renditions/Spain:
Damning
evidence surfaces of Aznar government collusion in Guantánamo
flights
EU: RETURNS DIRECTIVE: The Council of Ministers of the European
Union must not adopt the outrageous directive! Joint press
statement by Anafé, APDHA, Arci, ATMF, La Cimade, Gisti,
IPAM, LDH-Belgique, Migreurop and Statewatch against
the formal approval of the Returns Directive on the eve of the
60th anniversary of the UN Declaration on Human Rights:
In English
In French
(original)
In Spanish
In Italian
ECJ-COUNCIL: The
Court annuls, for the third time, a Council Decision freezing
the funds of the People's Mojahdin Organisation of Iran
(Press release, pdf) and Full-text
of judgment (pdf)
"The Council has violated the rights of defence of the PMOI by not communicating to it the new information which, according to the Council, justified maintaining it on the European list of terrorist organisations; by refusing to communicate to the Court certain information about the case, the Council has equally infringed the fundamental right of the PMOI to effective judicial protection."
ECHR-UK: Major victory in the European Court of Human Rights:
European Court of Human Rights unanimously finds that the UK
practice of keeping indefinitely the fingerprints and DNA of
people not convicted of an offence is a violation of Article
8 of the ECHR Convention: Marper
case press release (pdf) and Full-text
of Marper judgment (pdf). The Court findings are expressed
in damning terms of UK law and practices:
"The Court noted that England, Wales and Northern Ireland appeared to be the only jurisdictions within the Council of Europe to allow the indefinite retention of fingerprint and DNA material of any person of any age suspected of any recordable offence."
"The Court was struck by the blanket and indiscriminate nature of the power of retention in England and Wales. In particular, the data in question could be retained irrespective of the nature or gravity of the offence with which the individual was originally suspected or of the age of the suspected offender; the retention was not time-limited;"
"In conclusion, the Court found that the blanket and indiscriminate nature of the powers of retention of the fingerprints, cellular samples and DNA profiles of persons suspected but not convicted of offences, as applied in the case of the present applicants, failed to strike a fair balance between the competing public and private interests, and that the respondent State had overstepped any acceptable margin of appreciation in this regard. Accordingly, the retention in question constituted a disproportionate interference with the applicants’ right to respect for private life and could not be regarded as necessary in a democratic society."
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch Editor, comments:
"The judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the Marper case roundly condemns UK law and practice in taking and keeping indefinitely fingerprints and DNA from everyone arrested but not charged and of those arrested and charged but found to be innocence in court which is why the UK has the largest DNA database in the world.
The judgment will also have profound implications for EU plans to allow automated access to fingerprints and DNA by agencies across Europe under a recent Council Decision on cross-border cooperation (incorporated under the Prum Treaty) - especially for the transfer of UK biometric data to other EU countries.
As the Court notes at the moment the UK is the only place which allows the indefinite retention of fingerprint and DNA material of any person of any age suspected of any recordable offence - in most EU states this biometric data is only kept if a person is convicted for a specific serious offence. However, discussions in EU fora hint at removing legal "obstacles" to the collection and storage of DNA and fingerprints in order to "harmonise" policies based on the UK model."
UK Background: ECHR: Marper v UK case concerning the retention of fingerprints and DNA: Summary of the case (pdf) and Detailed expert submission on DNA and fingerprints (pdf), Comments posed by the ECHR in the case of S. and Marper (APPLICATION 30562/04 & 30566/04) and which relate to the application of data protection law to the retention of DNA personal data by Chris Pounder (pdf) and Historical background article by Statewatch: Law enforcement and DNA technology: the irresistable march? UK database to be expanded, EU member states to begin exchanging DNA “profiles" (pdf)
EU background: Council of the European Union: DNA
compiling of the answers (EU doc no: 9445/1/06 Rev 1)
and the incorporation of the Prum Treaty into the EU: COUNCIL
DECISION on the implementation of Decision 2008/…/JHA on
the stepping up of cross border cooperation, particularly in
combating terrorism and cross-border crime (pdf) and
Statewatch article: Searching
for Needles in an ever expanding haystack: Cross-border DNA data
exchange in the wake of the Prum Treaty with EU country-by-country
DNA figures (pdf). And context : Statewatch's: The
Shape of Things to Come (pdf)
UK: Police
and immigration given powers to demand to see identification:
Police and immigration officers will be able to stop Britons
and demand they prove their identity under proposed sweeping
new powers (Daily Telegraph, link) and Full-text: Draft Immigration
and Citizenship Bill (pdf): See Clause 26.
EU: Commission proposals:
- Council
Regulation listing the third countries whose nationals must be
in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and
those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement
(COM 716, pdf)
- Directive laying
down minimum standards for the reception of asylum seekers
(COM 815, pdf)
- Regulation concerning the
establishment of 'Eurodac' for the comparison of fingerprints
for the effective application of Regulation (EC) No […/…]
[establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the
Member State responsible for examining an application for international
protection lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country
national or a stateless person] (825/3, pdf)
- Regulation establishing
the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State
responsible for examining an application for international protection
lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national
or a stateless person (COM 829, pdf)
EU-HEALTH
RECORDS: Opinion
of the European Data Protection Supervisor (pdf). The
EDPS expresses:
"concerns about the fact that current Community healthcare-related initiatives are not always well co-ordinated with privacy and security considerations - especially with regard to the use of new information and communication technologies, thus hampering the adoption of a universal data protection approach towards healthcare. This is also evident in the current proposal where, although references to data protection can be found, these are mainly of a general nature and fail to specifically address the data protection dimension of cross-border healthcare."
European
Parliament-CIA: Question
to the Commission by the ALDE group (Liberal) (pdf)
Council
of Europe: Council
of Europe Adopts Second-rate Treaty on Access to Information:
Civil Society Groups express disappointment, call for strong
monitoring body (pdf)
UK: De
Menezes family walk out of inquest as coroner rules he was not
unlawfully killed (Guardian, link)
EU: BODY SCANNERS: Commission launches short consultation: deadline
Now changed to 19 February 2009: The
impact of the use of body scanners in the field of aviation security
on human rights, privacy, personal dignity, health and data protection
(press release, link) and Questionnaire
(Word file)
European Data
Protection Supervisor (EDPS): Press release: EDPS
sees adoption of Data Protection Framework for police and judicial
cooperation only as a first step (pdf): "the
EDPS repeatedly called for significant improvements of the proposal
to ensure high standards in the level of protection offered and
warned against a dilution of data protection standards."
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
"The process of adopting this Framework Decision was a democratic fiasco with law enforcement officials deciding on issues of privacy and peoples' rights and coming down on the side of the state every time..
While the views of the European Parliament, the EDPS, national Data Protection Commissioners and civil society were virtually ignored the demands of the USA to retain unregulated bilateral access to personal data exchanges was endorsed."
See Statewatch Observatory on: Data protection in the EU
UK:
10,000 TASERS for
UK police (Home Office, pdf)
EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE: Judgment: Press Release: The
Court explains the scope of the speciality rule which states
that a person surrendered under a European Arrest Warrant for
the purpose of prosecution for a criminal offence may be prosecuted
only for that offence (pdf)
HUNGARY:
The
Hungarian Constitutional Court declares several rules of the
act regulating the criminal registry (hereinafter: CRA) unconstitutional - the Court nullified
rules on the scope of the registry, on data transfer from the
registry and on rules of dactyloscopic and photo registry
SPAIN: ACCESS TO INFORMATION: Report
claims right of access to information is not fully recognised
Racism in policing:
the experience of Moroccan car enthusiasts' club members on their
trip to Spain
November 2008
EU: COUNTER-TERRORISM: Implementation
of the Strategy and Action Plan to Combat Terrorism (June-November
2008) (pdf), Implementation
of the Strategy and Action Plan to Combat Terrorism (pdf)
and EU
Counter-Terrorism Strategy - Discussion paper (pdf).
The discussion paper includes the following comment on Europol
(JSB is the Joint Supervisory Body of data protection commissioners)::
"While the JSB has acknowledged the fact that there is a need for Check the Web to include some personal data, their extreme interpretation of the data protection rules means that a number of high value analysis documents received from Member States cannot be input in the system, some of them because they contain the name of well-known terrorists such as Osama Bin Laden…"
The Counter-Terrorism Coordinator is keen on the idea of a "European Security Label" and says:
"Such an EU Security Label would stimulate innovative technologies that provide the best value for money in the long term, while ensuring interoperability. By introducing a compulsory 'privacy & freedom-compliance requirement', the Label would at the same time express respect for European civil liberties."
The idea of a "European Security Label" was raised in the Future Group report, see: Statewatch's: The Shape of Things to Come (pdf) and the European Security Research and Innovation Forum (ESRIF) report in September, see: European Security Research and Innovation Forum intermediate report (pdf).
Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:
"The background documents to the Future Group and the ESRIF report show that PET (privacy enhancing technology) with a European Security Label would allay fears that law enforcement and internal security agencies could gain access to communications and personal data. But equally they show that the agencies are opposed to PET because this could be exploited by criminals and others. The likelihood is that such an official "Label" would give the impression that privacy would be respected while built-in trap-doors would give the agencies access whenever they want"
EU: Justice and Home Affairs Council, 27-28 November 2008
- Background documentation: Press
release, 27 November - including story below (French,
pdf): "B"
Points Agenda (pdf) and "A"
Points Agenda (adopted without discussion, pdf). Background
note (pdf); Council
information note (French, pdf); Notes from French presidency website
(link); Broadcast
material from EU media library (pdf)
JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS COUNCIL, Brussels, 27 November: Restriction
on the freedom of movement within the EU for people who have
been convicted of serious crime in the past or for "repeated
offences" (which may be "low level")
"Ministers are discussing the adoption of Council Conclusions: Free movement of persons: abuses and substantive problems – Draft Council conclusions on abuses and misuses of the right to free movement of persons (16151/1/08, 26 November 2008, pdf). These say that: "Only those exercising their rights in the spirit of the Treaty should benefit from freedom of movement." While referring to third country nationals the proposals would apply to EU citizens as well and allow Member States to deny entry to those who:
"break the law in a sufficiently serious manner by committing serious and repeated offences"
The scope of "repeated offences" is undefined and could apply, for example, to protectors who take part in cross-border demonstrations.
These Conclusions are based on
a proposal put forward by the UK: Statewatch Analysis: The
UK proposals on EU free movement law: an attack on the rule of
law and EU fundamental freedoms by Professor Steve Peers
- University of Essex (pdf):
The draft conclusions constitute an attack on the rule of law
and the fundamental freedom of EU citizens and their family members
to move freely within the Community. They indicate an intention
to:
- ignore a recent important ruling
of the Court of Justice as well as many prior rulings of the
Court;
- attempt to dictate to the Court how to interpret EC legislation;
- amend or re-interpret EC legislation at the dictat of interior
ministries, without applying any form of legislative process;
and
- dictate to the Commission how to perform its independent task
as guardian of EC law.
The UK proposal includes considering:
"the cumulative damage caused by continuous low-level
offending can amount to a sufficiently serious threat to public
policy"
United
Kingdom delegation: Free movement of persons: abuses and substantive
problems - Draft Council Conclusions (EU doc no: 15903/08.
18 November 2008, pdf)
GREECE: PROASYL REPORT: “The
situation in Greece is out of control”: Research into the
situation of asylum seekers in Greece (pdf)
ITALY: Draft
Report on the LIBE delegation to Italy on September 18th/19th
(nomads camps emergency) (pdf) and Annex
I and Annex II to the Draft Report of the LIBE delegation to
Italy on September 18th and 19th (pdf)
DENMARK: PET
in security quandary (link)
"The Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET) was outmanoevred today after the Supreme Court determined it had been wrong to detain one of two men the Service alleged had planned to kill one of Denmark's Mohammed cartoonists.
The man was one of two men detained in the case, and while the Supreme Court said there had been grounds to detain one of the men, evidence had not been sufficiently forthcoming to support the detention of the other man.
Both men were made subjects of an administrative order to leave the country. While one of the men left Denmark voluntarily, the other remains in the country as there are fears for his safety if he returns to his own country."
Profiling
Web Users – Some Intellectual Property Problems by Nicholas Bohm and Joel Harrison in
"Computers and Law", publication of the Society for
Computers and Law (November 2008, pdf).
COUNCIL OF EUROPE: Speaking
of Terror: A survey of the effects of counter-terrorism legislation
on freedom of the media in Europe (pdf) A new report
by Privacy International for the CoE Media and Information Society
Division examines how the “war on terror” has affected
access to information, the growth of incitement, glorification
and “extremism” restrictions on speech, blocking of
internet sites, increased surveillance of journalists and limits
on protection of journalists’ sources. The report finds
that the laws have already seriously affected freedom of expression
while providing little benefit in fighting terrorism. The report
also examines the roles of the United Nations Security Council,
European Union and Council of Europe in promoting new laws while
paying little attention to human rights.
UK-EU: British
government sues EU Council over decision to exclude UK from decision
on police access to Visa Information System (VIS) (Case
C-428/08, pdf). Having chosen not to participate in the common
EU visa policy and the development of VIS, the UK was also excluded
from the decision to grant Europol and law enforcement agencies
in the member states access to VIS data. The British government
is now seeking annulment of the latter decision (i.e. access
to VIS for UK law enforcement agencies) on the grounds that the
EU decision was given an incorrect legal basis in the provisions
developing the Schengen area.
EU: Revised
proposal on telecoms regulation: 'Citizens' Rights Directive'
(pdf): This is a draft Directive amending the 2002 Directive
on privacy in telecommunications. It addresses aspects of data
protection, data security, confidentiality, traffic data, location
data, caller ID, subscriber data and unsolicited communications
but will not apply to activities falling outside of the 'first
pillar', including access by law enforcement agencies to data
collected under the EU's mandatory retention regime.
MALTA: Scandalous:
Borg Olivier requests confidential data of ‘complaining
citizens’ (Malta Today. link) In an email to government
ministers, PN secretary general blurs state and party lines by
requesting personal data of individuals who complained to ministries
EU: European Commission drops proposals for
"body scanners" at airports (which strip people
naked). On 18 November the Commission announced that it was to
drop its proposal for "body scanners" to be used as
part of airport security after opposition from the European Parliament
and civil society groups. Lack of EU rules means member states
can choose whether or not to use "body scanners".
See: Letter from Commissioner Tajani to EP (pdf)
See also: EU: Body Scanners at airports: MEPs say that fundamental rights are under threat (EP Press release, pdf) and The measure was proposed in the Commission proposal for a Regulation on aviation security: full-text (pdf).
EU-UN-ROMA: UN experts
call for European action to stop violence against Roma (UN press release, pdf):
"Effective
action is required to stem the growing tide of hostility, anti-Roma
sentiment and violence across Europe" stated the UN Independent
Expert on minority issues, Gay McDougall. "Where a hard-core
of extremism exists in society and is willing to perpetrate violence,
the full force of the criminal justice system must be used to
protect targeted populations."
Equally, the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism,
racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance,
Githu Muigai, stressed that "such actions reveal serious
and deep-rooted problems of racism and discrimination against
Roma at the heart of modern Europe that must be addressed in
the most vigorous manner and through the rule of law."
See also: Ethnic riot erupts in Czech town (BBC News, link)
UK: INTRODUCTION OF
ID CARDS: Home Office: Consultation press release (pdf) and full Consultation
document
(pdf) and see story below.
UK: Home
Office: Identity and Passport Service: Introducing
the National Identity Scheme: How the Scheme will work and how
it will benefit you (pdf). The No2ID campaign comments:
"The document doesn't mention that once your details are in the database they are in there for life, that it is your responsibility to keep that data up to date and to not lose your card, that you can't check your record, that there are fines for any errors or if you fail to keep your data up to date, and that the National Identity Register Number will be used to track you for the rest of your life."
CoE-FRANCE: “French
detention and immigration policies risk reducing human rights
protection” says Commissioner Hammarberg (Press release, pdf)
and Memorandum
by Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human
Rights
(pdf):
"Security concerns should not undermine a full respect for human rights norms. Some French policies on detention and immigration risk undermining these standards.” With these words, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, presented today his report on France, identifying problems as regards prison conditions, preventive detention (rétention de sûreté), juvenile justice and rights of migrants.
Grinding
down the human rights defenders (link). The Autumn 2008 issue of the
IRR's European Race Bulletin examines the resistance and the
criminalisation of solidarity and protest, also contains an article
on the the Austrian general election and the death of Jörg
Haider.
EU: "CHECK THE WEB" PROJECT
which looks for terrorist websites with the object of closing
them down: From "terrorism" to "Islamist
propaganda from moderate Islamist websites": Draft
Council conclusions on the continuation of work on combating
terrorism
(EU doc no: 15684/08, dated 14 November 2008, pdf) These Conclusions
say there is a need:
"to combat the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes, and in particular to participate in the European "Check the Web" project, inter alia on subjects such as "Islamist propaganda from moderate Islamist websites"" (emphasis added)
But see: EU: Revised EU Strategy for Combating Radicalisation and Recruitment to Terrorism (EU doc no: 15175/08, dated 14 November 2008, pdf), which says that factors leading to "radicalisation" include: "unresolved international and domestic strife" (as before there is no mention of Palestine, Iraq or Afghanistan). The Strategy report goes on to say that:
"We need to empower mainstream voices by stepping up the dialogue with political, religious and separatist groups which favour moderation and exclude recourse to violence."
Presumably "mainstream voices" that "favour moderation" include "moderate Islamist websites"? Or does "moderate" only extend to websites categorised by EU police and internal security agencies as not carrying "Islamist propaganda"?
Background: Most documents on the EU's "Check the Web" project are pretty bland or censored, see: Conclusions of the Kick-off conference "Check the Web" - Berlin, 26-27 September 2006 (EU doc: 13930/08, dated 10 November 2008, pdf)
EU-US DATA-INFORMATION-SHARUNG: Data
chief attacks transatlantic police plan (Inquirer, link)
Italy:
Raft
of restrictive amendments under discussion, as new norms on asylum
and family reunion come into force
ASGI, the Associazione Studi Giuridici
sull'Immigrazione, has presented a number of documents highlighting
the problems that would result from amendments that have been
submitted to the law decree on security (Ddl 773) that is undergoing
scrutiny in the Senate since 11 November 2008 and the latest
reform of the education system.
See also: Italy:
Institutionalising discrimination by Yasha Maccanico (Statewatch Bulletin, Vol 18
no 2 April-June 2008):
"The racist scape-goating of Roma and Sinti has paved
the way for an ominous crackdown by the Berlusconi government
with echoes of a terrible past and could lead to a shift to authoritarianism
that will be difficult to reverse."
USA: American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU): Documents
Reveal U.S. Knowingly Transfers Detainees To Countries That Torture (link) The
documents obtained by the ACLU and Columbia Law School Human
Rights Clinic
(link)
EU: "Freedom,
Security and Justice: What will be the future?" – Consultation
on priorities of the European Union for the next five years (2010-2014,
pdf): Opinion of the National Red Cross Societies of the Member
States of the European Union and the International Federation
of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
European
Parliament lifts immunity of far-right MEP (euobserver, link)
Italy: High
ranking police officers acquitted in sentence for brutal G8 Diaz
school raid
GREECE: Protests in Greek prisons: Public
support for prison protests - Greece in the Spotlight (pdf)
CoE: RENDITION: Dick Marty: Brief to US Supreme
Court: Khaled el-Masri case (pdf)
Press Release: European Union sets its military sights on
space - Venus
to Mars: full-text of report (pdf)
Amsterdam, 17 November. For immediate release. European space
policy is increasingly driven by military rather than civilian
objectives, according to From Venus to Mars: the European Union´s
steps towards the militarisation of space, a new report from
the Transnational Institute and Campagne tegen Wapenhandel (Dutch
Campaign Against Arms Trade).
“Under the guise of ´dual use´ technologies,
we are witnessing the creeping militarisation of European space
policies” says Frank Slijper, author of the report.
“The EU is now investing large sums in new military space
technologies at the behest of the very businesses that stand
to profit from its policies.”
From Mars to Venus charts the emergence of a military role for
the formerly purely civilian ESA. The report highlights how projects
that are initially presented as civilian or civil security initiatives
often have ´dual´ or multiple use that includes a
strong military component. For example, the main rationale for
the Kopernikus project, which gives the EU a global monitoring
capacity, is now more clearly stated in terms of its capacity
for providing intelligence to support future European and NATO
military interventions.
Updated: EU-EXCHANGE
OF CRIMINAL RECORDS: Draft
Guidelines on the implementation of the "Swedish Framework
Decision" (13942/REV1/08, 107 pages, pdf).
"The aim of this publication is to provide guidelines for the implementation of Council Framework Decision 2006/960/JHA on simplifying the exchange of information and intelligence between law enforcement authorities of the Member States of the European Union."
See also the underlying measure - which goes much wider as it covers both the exchange of "information" and of "intelligence" (that may be "hard" and reliable, or "soft" and unreliable, uncorroborated: Framework Decision on simplifying the exchange of information and intelligence between law enforcement authorities of the Member States of the European Union (pdf)
GENOA-2001: No
justice in Genoa - The G8 protesters were brutalised, yet the
Foreign Office showed complete indifference (Guardian, link). See
Statewatch's Observatory
on reactions to protests in the EU
EU/Libya: Petition
against detention camps for migrants in Libya (Fortress Europe, link)
A petition "for an international investigation on the detention
conditions of migrants and refugees arrested in Libya on their
way to Europe" was launched by the directors of the documentary
"Come un uomo sulla terra", which features stories
told by African refugees about their journey through Libya. The
petition, to be sent to Italian and EU authorities as well as
the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, highlights Italy's responsibilities
as a result of bilateral agreements whereby Italy provides "financial
and technical support to Libya" to control migration flows.
See also: Italy/Libya: "Special and privileged" bilateral relationship treaty
EU-EUROPOL: Report from the UK House of Lords Select Committee
on the EU: EUROPOL:
Coordinating the fight against serious and organised crime (285 pages, pdf)
EU-USA-DATA PROTECTION: Opinion from the European Data Protection
Supervisor: Final
Report by the EU-US High Level Contact Group on information sharing
and privacy and personal data protection (pdf)
EU/Africa/Middle East: Fortress Europe
blog details 108 deaths in October 2008
UK: Mohamed
Raissi falsely imprisoned (Press release, pdf) and Full-text
of Court Judgment (pdf):
"Today
the Court of Appeal delivered its judgment confirming that Mohamed
Raissi was falsely imprisoned by officers of the Metropolitan
Police when they arrested and detained him at Paddington Green
Police Station on 21 September 2001.
Mohamed Raissi is the brother of Lotfi Raissi who was wrongly
accused of training the 9/11 hijackers. The Court of Appeal confirmed
in February this year that Lotfi was “completely exonerated”
in a strongly worded judgement that was critical of the part
played by the Crown Prosecution Service and the Metropolitan
Police in the failed attempt to extradite him."
Joint
UK-French charter to repatriate Afghans narrowly averted?
GREECE, Athens: ASYLUM-SEEKERS PROTEST - MIGRANT DIES: Press
release from NGOs (pdf)
ARSIS - Social Association for the Support of Youth, Ecumenical Refugee Programme, Greek Helsinki Monitor, Group of Lawyers for the Rights of Migrants and Refugees (Athens), Group of Lawyers for the Rights of Migrants and Refugees (Thessaloniki) ,Hellenic League for Human Rights Movement for Human Rights, Solidarity with Refugees in Samos, National Focal Point on Racism and Xenophobia, KEMO PRAKSIS "PROS-FYGI", Initiative for Solidarity with Refugees in Mytilini.
"during the weekend of 25-26 October, after having been barred from the asylum process for two months, an unprecedented number of asylum seekers (around 3000) queued up outside the building of the Aliens' Directorate at Petrou Ralli Street, in order to claim asylum under conditions which degraded their human dignity.
The response of the police was to resort to violence in order to repel the crowd; as a result, many were injured while the death of a migrant during these events is being treated as suspicious following witness accusations."
UK: Academics
are not immigration officials (Letter to the Guardian, 10 November
2008, link). See also news story with a slightly insensitive
headline: Academics
balk at 'spying' on students to nail migrant scams (link)
Italy/Libya: "Special and privileged"
bilateral relationship treaty
On 30 August 2008, Italy and Libya signed a friendship, partnership and co-operation treaty for the purpose of developing a "special and privileged" bilateral relationship involving a strong and wide-ranging partnership in political, economic and other fields. The treaty also seeks to end the "painful" chapter of the past involving suffering inflicted on Libyan people during Italy's colonial adventure, for which Italy expressed its regret in a joint statement in 1998.
Catching
History on the Wing by A. Sivanandan, November 2008, speech by the IRR's director,
at the IRR's fiftieth celebration conference (Full-text of speech,
IRR, link):
"the refugees and asylum seekers, thrown up on Europe's shores, stem from the uprooting and displacement of whole populations caused by globalisation, and the imperial wars and regime change that follow in its wake. Globalisation and immigration are part of the same continuum. We are here because you are there."
THE ALTERNATIVE CONSULTATION ON EU JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS
POLICY
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on
the future priorities in the field of Justice and Home Affairs
policy. The European Civil Liberties Network has produced
an alternative questionnaire to provoke a more wide ranging debate
about EU policy and practice.
Please take a few moments to complete the survey and have your
say on EU justice and home affairs policy: Complete
survey
For more information about the ECLN survey, see: the ECLN
survey
UK: Government
black boxes will 'collect every email' (Independent, link): "Internet
"black boxes" will be used to collect every email and
web visit in the UK under the Government's plans for a giant
"big brother" database"
VICHY-FRANCE: Protests
as France's Vichy hosts first conference since war (link)
VICHY, France (AFP) Protesters against Europe's immigration policy
descended on the town of Vichy Monday as the shamed capital of
France's former pro-Nazi dictatorship hosted its first international
government conference since World War II.
EU: Proposal
for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council
providing for sanctions against employers of illegally staying
third-country nationals (EU doc: DS 1006/08, pdf). Report from the Council
Presidency to SCIFA setting out the latest positions on the proposed
Directive.
However, you will not find this document listed on the Council public register of documents because it has been classified as a Room Document and thus to be kept hidden.
EU: European Data Protection Supervisor: The
EDPS and EU Research and Technological Development: Policy paper (pdf)
UK: Total
spending ban on men accused of funding al-Qaida: Pair
caught in legal trap they cannot challenge - Funds frozen under
power never discussed by MPs (Guardian, link)
UK-USA: Cross-party attempt to fight extradition
of British hacker (Guardian, link) "Senior politicians
from all parties are urging the home secretary, Jacqui Smith,
to halt the extradition of the computer hacker Gary McKinnon
unless she receives a guarantee from the US that he will be allowed
to serve any sentence imposed in Britain."
Background: Extradition Treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the United States of America with Exchange of Notes (pdf) See Statewatch analysis: The UK-US Extradition Treaty (pdf) - removes or restricts key protections for defendants and signed and adopted with no parliamentary scrutiny
October 2008
EU-PNR:
Latest Council document: General discussion of matters
relating to the analysis and transmission of PNR data and data-protection (pdf) and PNR:
Opinion of the Fundamental Rights Agency (pdf)
UK: Joint Human Rights Committee: Parliamentary Committee criticises
government's "unacceptable delay" in removing breaches
of human rights standards by UK: Full-report (112 pages, pdf) In
this year's report the Committee again considers a number of
issues including corporal punishment of children; investigations
into cases involving the use of lethal force and the total ban
on prisoners' voting. Chair of the Committee Andrew Dismore MP
said;
"This
report highlights some of the cases where a breach of individual
rights has been identified, yet the Government has failed to
respond with decisive action to prevent repeat violations arising.
Providing an effective, speedy and transparent response to the
decisions of the courts must be part of the Government's commitment
to bring rights home."
ID CARDS: Northern Ireland HUman
Rights Commission: More than just a
card: Intrusion, exclusion and suspect communities: implications
in Northern Ireland of the British National Identity Scheme (pdf) and Ethnic
Profiling, ID Cards and European Experience (pdf) See also: The
Irish dimension to the case against ID cards (IRR News, link)
EU: PROPOSED ENTRY-EXIT SYSTEM: National responses to questionnaire:
Presidency
project for a system of electronic recording of entry and exit
dates of third-country nationals in the Schengen area (68 pages, pdf), Belgium
response
(pdf) and Portugal
response
(pdf)
EU: Police Cooperation - Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg):
Police
cooperation within the Benelux (EU doc no: 14509/08, pdf)
EU: Undercover police: Latest: Overview
of replies to questionnaire on undercover officers (EU doc no: 5001-Rev
4-08, pdf)
EU: "Friends of VIS" set-up: Draft
Council Conclusions on a group of "Friends of the VIS" (pdf)
UK-EU: All Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition:
Report (pdf)
EU:
DATA RETENTION: Press release by Arbeitskreis Vorratsdatenspeicherung
(German Working Group on Data Retention), 29 October 2008:
"Resistance against watering down of traffic data
protection
In a letter to EU Commissioner Viviane Reding published today, 11 German organisations are criticising a European Parliament move that would allow telcommunications providers to collect traffic data for "security purposes".
The civil liberties, journalists, lawyers and consumer protection organisations are warning in the letter that the European Parliament's vote on the telecom package of 24 September contains a "blank cheque" for the collection of more traffic data than is currently being collected even under the directive on data retention, without setting a time limit. The series of data abuses and incidents that have occurred in Germany, Italy, Greece, Latvia, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Hungary in recent years demonstrates that only erased data is safe data, the letter continues. The EU Council (where the telecom package will be debated on 27 November) is asked to reject the proposal.
A background paper published today by the German Working Group on Data Retention points out that the European Parliament move is the result of lobbying by the US-based Business Software Alliance (BSA). The BSA recently sent a hitherto unpublished paper to EU member states, pushing for even more extensive data collection powers and for exempting Internet usage data from data protection law."
See Amendment 181 in the European Parliament ameding the proposal:
The letter sent by 11 organisations (in German):
The
Working Group's background paper on the issue (in English)
The
Business Software Alliance's lobbying paper (in English):
UK: Bigger
databases increase risks, says watchdog (Guardian, link)
"The proliferation of ever larger centralised databases is increasing the risk of people's personal data being lost or abused, the government's official privacy watchdog claims today. The warning from the information commissioner, Richard Thomas, comes as he discloses that reported data losses have soared in the past year."
EU: ACCESS TO EU DOCUMENTS - FINLAND: Commission proposals would
"constitute a backward step": Ministry
of Justice, Finland, Press Release (pdf)
"If adopted in the proposed form, the proposal, however, would be more restrictive than the current rules on access to documents. The Commission proposes to exclude some document categories totally from the scope of implementation of the Regulation. The Commission also proposes that documents be accessible to the public only if they are registered and meet certain technical requirements....
The Government finds that the regulation on access to documents has worked well on the whole and that there is no reason to change its fundamental principles. The Commission proposal would, if adopted as such, constitute a step backwards."
and Opinion of the Grand Committee in the Finnish Parliament (pdf)
"The Grand Committee emphasises that if approved, the Commission's proposal would lead to a major reversal of the Union's transparency and the public's access to documents. The proposal is thus in contradiction to goals that have been repeatedly affirmed by the European Council.
The Grand Committee considers it worrying and reproachable that the Commission has advanced in support of its proposal justifications that must be considered untrue and misleading. Such conduct is liable to weaken the Commission's public credibility."
SPAIN: Report
to the Human Rights Committee, October 2008 (pdf). Its Conclusions
include:
"Torture and ill-treatment are an on-going reality in the Spanish state prisons, police stations, minors’ centres or alien centres, as well as in the streets and public spaces. This violence is a Spanish state exclusive responsibility. The more than 5.000 complaints compiled during the last 7 years show us the size of this problem."
EU: Justice and Home Affairs Council, 24 October 2008: Press
release
(English, pdf)
UK: Police
will use new device to take fingerprints in street (Guardian, link)
EU-AFRICA: European Commission: One year after Lisbon:
The Africa-EU partnership at work (COM 617, pdf) and One year
after Lisbon: The Africa-EU Partnership at work: Commission contributions
to the implementation of the EU-Africa Action Plan (2008-2010) (SEC 2603, pdf)
EU: Exchange of criminal information and "intelligence":
Draft
Guidelines on the implementation of the "Swedish Framework
Decision" (105 pages, pdf). This is a "partially accessible"
document with the names of officials removed:
"The aim of this publication is to provide guidelines for the implementation of Council Framework Decision 2006/960/JHA on simplifying the exchange of information and intelligence between law enforcement authorities of the Member States of the European Union."
EU: Statewatch
analysis: Proposals for greater openness, transparency and democracy
in the EU
(pdf) by Professor Steve Peers, University of Essex.
"The
European Union’s titanic treaties keep hitting the icebergs
of public opinion. Despite some undoubted improvements in ensuring
openness and transparency in the EU since 1991, there is still
a widespread and justified perception that:
- the EU’s activities are too secretive and convoluted,
- the EU does not listen enough to the general public or organised
civil society; and
- there is too little control of the activities of the EU by
the public, and in particular there is insufficient control of
EU actions by directly elected parliaments....
The steps toward further openness, transparency and democracy in the European Union outlined in this analysis could largely be taken separately from any initiative relating to ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon."
EU: Justice and Home Affairs Council, Luxembourg, 24 October
2008:
Press release
(French, pdf); Background
Note
(pdf) "B"
Points agenda
(pdf). "A"
Points agenda
(pdf) The agenda includes discussion on the following two documents:
- Draft Council conclusions on setting up national alert platforms and a European alert platform for reporting offences noted on the Internet (EU doc no: 14071/08, pdf). Council "Conclusions" are enabling measures (known as "soft law"). A European alert "platform" is to be set up to deal with cybercrime with:
"the aim is to promote common practices with regard to the tracing, acquisition, compilation and storage of data, search and seizure of computer data".
The question
though is: What is cybercrime? Up to now this has only covered
terrorism and child pornography. But there is talk now of extending
what the EU calls "cyber patrols" to other crimes,
as yet undefined.
- Police
cooperation within the Salzburg Forum - an example for successful
Regional Cooperation - Joint Presentation of the Salzburg Forum
on EU level
(EU doc no: 14304/08, pdf). Report of a group, "the Salzburg
Forum", that you might never have heard of:
"The Salzburg Forum which was founded in 2001 constitutes a platform for regional cooperation in the field of internal security between Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Croatia takes part in the Salzburg Forum as an observer."
UK: Why
are fear and distrust spiralling in twenty-first century Britain? Joseph Rowntree Foundation
(pdf)
EU: Body
Scanners at airports: MEPs say that fundamental rights are under
threat EP
Press release, pdf)
EU: