EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT COMMITTEE ON CIVIL LIBERTIES, JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS. Wednesday, 30 March 2005, 9 a.m a.m. 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.

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1 EUROPEAN PARLIAMT COMMITTEE ON CIVIL LIBERTIES, JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS Wednesday, 30 March 2005, 9 a.m a.m. 3 p.m. - 5 p.m. Rue Wiertz, 60 - Brussels Paul-Henri Spaak Chamber Public Seminar: 'Borders' Draft programme I. Objective The objective of this seminar is, within the context of a series of reports currently under consideration by LIBE, to have an overview on the EU's current policy towards external borders in general and to discuss further developments in this area. In addition it should help to examine the concrete proposals under consideration. II. Content There are four different but linked parts: 1) free movement internally 2) Abolition of internal border controls between and with new Member States ("temporary external borders") 3) external borders 4) "the world outside the Schengen area" Starting point for the debate should be a series of reports and opinions currently and previously under consideration in LIBE : 1. As regards the abolition of internal borders the key report is the report Cashman on the common manual which has a title on internal borders. The aim is to confirm the principle of free movement while introducing clear and transparent procedures with deadlines and the OJ\ doc PE v02

2 participation of the Community institutions for the exceptional case of the reintroduction of internal border controls. An open issue is the non-responsibility of the European Court of Justice on the crossing of internal borders which leads de facto to a situation in which Member State's application of the current rules is not controlled. 2. Important for abolition of the internal borders controls between and with new Member States are the development of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II). The SIS is a compensatory measure for the abolition of internal border controls. The current system, however, cannot accommodate the new Member States. Therefore the SIS II is a precondition for the lifting of the temporary external borders. At the same time the new Member States have to prepare the full implemenation of the Schengen acquis in particular as regards the upgrading of the new external borders of the Schengen area. To continue assisting them in this task after enlargement at the Copenhagen European Council the so called Schengen facility was set up with an annual budget of 317 Mio. for (336 Mio. for 2005). To avoid unnecessary obstacles the Commission had proposed a regime for local border traffic also at the temporary external borders. Following the change of procedures on 1 May 2004 and 1 January 2005 a new proposal from the Commission is about to be presented on local borders traffic. 3. A series of reports deal with external borders. Again one of the key document is the proposal on the common manual (report Cashman) which deals with all aspects of the crossing of external borders. A new proposal for local border traffic will arrive. For Kaliningrad a special legal regime was set up also with EU funding. The ARGO programme was revised (report Roure) to allow for the financing of national projects at borders of structural weakness. The new financial perspectives as of 2007 (opinion Deprez) will introduce a greater element of burden sharing to compensate those Member States which protect on behalf of all Member States long external borders. One of the three framework programmes for which the Commission still has to make the proposal will cover this aspect. The new Border Agency is supposed to be operational as of 1 May So far there is no decision on the seat, a situation which is highly deplorable. It will assist Member States in the control of the external borders without having executive power. Important for the control of external borders will also be the SIS II. 4. As regards visa policy the VIS (report Ludford) follows the same calendar as the SIS II since it will, according to Council conclusions be build on the same technical platform as the SIS II. It will be a system for the exchange of visa data between Member States. The introduction of biometrics in the VIS will require the setting-up of enrolment equipment in all consular posts, a requirement which could, due to the costs involved, lead to common consulates or enrolment centres. In any case the common consular instructions will need to be revised (to take account of the VIS and later the general revision). Visa policy will include the revision of the list of countries requiring a visa to travel to the Schengen area. It will also include the aspect of visa reciprocity (report Lax) in order to ensure that those countries whose nationals do not need a visa to travel to the Schengen area also exempt EU nationals from the visa requirement. In order to achieve facilitation of the issuing of visas negotiations are undertaken with Russia. Issues of cross-border cooperation and relations with our neighbours are parts of the neighbourhood policy with the proposal for a financial instrument on the table (opinion Kudrycka). PE v02 2/5 OJ\ doc

3 The debate should be guided by questions like for example: 1) Under what circumstances and following what kind of procedures should it be possible to reintroduce internal border controls? How can the respect of current and future rules by Member States be effectively controlled? What precisely are the powers of the European Court of Justice in this respect and which actions are not subject to control by the Court of Justice? 2) What still needs to be done in order to abolish border controls at temporary external borders? Will the SIS II be ready in 2007? On what have the new Member States used the Schengen facility? How far advanced are the new Member States? How will the process / evaluations of them joining the Schengen area work? 3) How do we envisage the EU border control scenario of the future? What really means "integrated border management"? What is the situation as regards the external borders agency? Is the question of the seat solved? What solution for local border traffic should we have? How will financial burden sharing for the protection of external borders be organised? How should the rules for the crossing of external borders be? What practical challenges for effective border control exist? How can we protect citizens' and third country nationals' rights? How can we distinguish between a border control and a police control? Wow do we find the balance between ensuring security and practical problems at maritime borders? 4) When will the Commission propose a comprehensive revision of the common consular instructions? What are the shortcomings so far identified? Should we have common consulates abroad? How is the current situation as regards visa reciprocity? How is the situation as regards the agreement with Russia about visa facilitation? Are we satisfied with our visa policy? What should be the objective of the Visa Information System and who should have access in what way to what data? What data protection issues do we have to take into consideration? Which further proposals and communication to we have to take into consideration in order to evaluate the VIS proposal? What effects will the VIS have? What do we have to take into consideration when using biometrics at such a large scale? How do we want to cooperate with our neighbours? OJ\ doc 3/5 PE v02

4 IV. Programme Introduction 9:00-9:10 Opening of the Seminar by Mr Jean-Marie CAVADA, Chairman of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs "temporary external borders" 9:10-9:25 Mr Jan DE CEUSTER (European Commission; Head of Unit "Free movement of persons, Visa policy, External borders, Schengen"): general introduction including state of play SIS II, use of Schengen facility and evaluation mechanism 9:25-9:40 Mr Robert RYBICKI (JHA Counsellor; Polish Permanent Representation to the EU): a new Member State's preparation for the implementation of the Schengen acquis 9:40-9:55 questions / debate External Borders 9:55-10:10 Mr Jan DE CEUSTER (European Commission): general introduction including EU scenario for border protection, situation as regards the external border agency, local border traffic, financial perspectives - burden sharing for external borders 10:10-10:20 questions to the Commission 10:20-10:35 Mr Michael CASHMAN: presentation of draft report 10: Mr Raoul UEBERECK (Presidency): state of play in Council 10:50-11:00 Mr Jan DE CEUSTER (European Commission): reaction to draft report and draft opinion Experts on certain aspects of Cashman draft report 11:00-11:10 Mr Konrad SCHOBER (Head of the Section dealing with EU affairs and policing in the Bavarian Ministry for Internal Affairs): European border regime vs. national police powers 11:10-11:20 Dr Ryszard CHOLEWINSKI (Centre for European Law and Integration, Faculty of Law, University of Leicester, United Kingdom): Border control and discrimination 11:20-12:30 questions / debate "the world outside the Schengen area" 15:00-15:15 Mr. Jan DE CEUSTER (European Commission): general introduction including state of play common consular instructions, visa reciprocity, facilitation agreement with Russia, Kaliningrad 15:15-15:20 Mr Henrik LAX: visa policy - visions for the future 15:20-15:30 questions to the Commission 15: Mrs Sarah LUDFORD: presentation of working document on the Visa Information System (VIS) 15: Mr Peter HUSTINX (European Data Protection Supervisor): presentation of opinion on VIS 15:45-15:55 Mr. Jan DE CEUSTER (European Commission): reaction to working document 15:55-16:25 debate PE v02 4/5 OJ\ doc

5 16:20-16:40 Mr Ioannis MAGHIROS (Project Leader; Institute for Prospective Technological Studies; Directorate General Joint Research Centre; European Commission) Presentation of study "Biometrics at the Frontiers: Assessing the Impact on Society" 16:40-16:50 Mrs Barbara KUDRYCKA: presentation of draft opinion on European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument 16:50-17:00 debate ANNEX Secretariat Telephone Address Katrin HUBER Adminstrator (responsable) RMA 1J 020 Ryszard DE GROOT Assistance RMA 01J036 Petra UHRMEISTER Secretariat RMA 01J022 Important notice for those wishing to attend the seminar The seminar is open to the public. However, for security reasons, participants who do not have a European Parliament access badge must obtain a pass in advance. Those wishing to obtain a such a pass should contact the seminar secretariat before 25 March OJ\ doc 5/5 PE v02

Biometrics, privacy and security: Striking the right balance

Public Hearing Biometrics, privacy and security: Striking the right balance Tuesday 2 March 9.00-12.30 European Parliament, PHS Building, rue Wiertz, 1047 Brussels Meeting room 4B-001 Part I. The future