Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04BRUSSELS1450
2004-04-05 06:07:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Brussels
Cable title:  

COUNTER-TERRORISM/LAW ENFORCEMENT: EU

Tags:  PREL PTER PREF CASC KCRM EUN USEU BRUSSELS 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 001450 

SIPDIS

DHS FOR IAO, BORDER PATROL
FOR IAO, BORDER PATROL
DOJ FOR CRM
ROME ALSO FOR INS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PTER PREF CASC KCRM EUN USEU BRUSSELS
SUBJECT: COUNTER-TERRORISM/LAW ENFORCEMENT: EU
BEGINS WORK ON AIRLINE PASSENGER DATA SYSTEM

REF: (A) USEU BRUSSELS 1338;

(B) USEU BRUSSELS 743

SUMMARY
-------

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 001450

SIPDIS

DHS FOR IAO, BORDER PATROL
FOR IAO, BORDER PATROL
DOJ FOR CRM
ROME ALSO FOR INS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PTER PREF CASC KCRM EUN USEU BRUSSELS
SUBJECT: COUNTER-TERRORISM/LAW ENFORCEMENT: EU
BEGINS WORK ON AIRLINE PASSENGER DATA SYSTEM

REF: (A) USEU BRUSSELS 1338;

(B) USEU BRUSSELS 743

SUMMARY
--------------


1. The EU Council of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA)
Ministers on March 30 displayed a new momentum to
meet its obligations to deal with the Declaration by
EU leaders on combating terrorism as well as its own
rolling agenda. The ministers agreed on a "general
approach" (no formal agreement yet) on a Directive
aimed at improving border controls and combating
illegal immigration by the transmission of advance
passenger data by air carriers to border
authorities. They did the same (pending scrutiny by
national parliaments) for a Directive to ensure fair
and appropriate compensation to victims of a crime,
including a terrorist attack, suffered in a Member
State other than their own. Newly appointed CT
Coordinator de Vries said his role would be to
assist Member States to deliver on their
commitments. Full text of the JHA Conclusions has
been transmitted to EUR/ERA and Embassy Dublin.
Migration issues covered septel. END SUMMARY.

EUROPEAN COUNCIL DECLARATION ON TERRORISM: FOLLOW-UP
-------------- --------------


2. With newly appointed CT Coordinator Gijs de
Vries in attendance, the Council discussed the
follow-up to the Declaration on Combating Terrorism
adopted by the European Council on March 25 (REF A).
Following a separate bilateral meeting with Council
Secretary-General/HighRep Solana, de Vries told

SIPDIS
reporters his role would be "to assist Member States
in doing the things they have said they would do,
i.e. to deliver on commitments." De Vries made it
clear he was "not in the business of creating a new
institution or a new bureaucracy." Irish Justice
Minister/Council chair Mc Dowell reported a "great
sense of confidence" in de Vries, whom he presented
as "a man of huge experience and intelligence
capacity, who is only interested in the outcome and
not in Empire-building."

OBLIGATION OF CARRIERS TO COMMUNICATE PASSENGER DATA
-------------- --------------



3. Meeting in a Mixed Committee with Iceland and
Norway in the context of the Schengen arrangements,
EU JHA ministers reached a "common approach" (not a
formal agreement yet) on a draft Directive aimed at
improving border controls and combating illegal
immigration by the transmission of advance passenger
data by air carriers to border authorities. The
draft lays down obligations for carriers
transporting non-EU nationals into the territory of
the Member States. In order to ensure greater
effectiveness of this objective, it provides for
financial penalties when carriers fail to meet their
obligations. Minister Mc Dowell noted that the
importance of sharing passenger data was underlined
by last week's European Council Declaration on
Combating Terrorism. The Declaration tasked the
Commission to bring forward a proposal, no later
than June 2004, for a common EU approach to the use
of passenger data for border and aviation security
and other law enforcement purposes. Mc Dowell said
the Directive would be reviewed in light of the
Commission's proposal.


4. Mc Dowell commented that the Madrid bombings had
triggered a "more mature judgment" by EU governments
on access to personal data, adding: "Post-Madrid,
the European Parliament may have a rethink about
whether privacy is such an absolute right. I don't
think the people of Europe would forgive us if
information that could prevent such an atrocity were
contained in files or records and could simply not
be accessed by the people who could prevent such
atrocities." UK Home Office Minister for Organized
crime reduction and European issues Caroline Flint
said: "It is right we make the most of information
collected at our borders by making available to
immigration authorities and law enforcement agencies
across the EU. We should maximize our use of
information, including from the proposed new range
of biometric visas and passports, to ensure that
legitimate passengers can move freely, while
safeguarding our borders, not only against illegal
immigration, but against serious and organized crime
and terrorism."

COMPENSATION TO CRIME VICTIMS
--------------


5. Mc Dowell also announced a consensus on a
Council Directive on compensation to crime victims,
for the adoption of which the March 25-26 European
Council set a May 1, 2004 deadline. The proposal is
part of the EU's response to 9/11 and the Madrid
attacks and ensures that victims of crime (including
terrorist attacks) receive "adequate compensation
regardless of where within the EU such acts take
place," according to the Council conclusions. The
deal, which is based on a Presidency compromise
intended to prevent a deadlock on the issue of the
legal basis for the Directive, remains subject to
scrutiny by parliaments in the UK and Germany.
However, Mc Dowell was hopeful for a formal
agreement at the April 29-30 JHA Council. He said
the Directive would contain rules on access to
compensation in cross-border cases that will help
victims claim compensation as a result of a crime
suffered in a member state other than their own.
All Member States will also have to ensure that
their national rules provide, by July 1, 2005, for
the existence of a scheme guaranteeing fair and
appropriate compensation for victims.

MUTUAL RECOGNITION OF CONFISCATION ORDERS
--------------


6. Mc Dowell reported "significant progress" but no
complete agreement yet on a draft piece of
legislation intended to facilitate cooperation
between Member States as regards the recognition and
execution of orders to confiscate the proceeds of
crime (REF.B). By means of the Framework Decision,
a Member State will have to recognize and execute in
its territory confiscation orders issued by judicial
authorities of another Member State. Discussions
in the Council focused on the grounds for non-
recognition or non-execution of a confiscation
order. According to the draft text, the executing
state may refuse the recognition/execution
confiscation order when the offences have been
committed wholly or partly within the territory of
the executing state. A number of delegations and
the Commission think this provision should be
limited in order to avoid the risk that criminals go
unpunished as a consequence of its application. Mc
Dowell was confident that the Council will be able
to meet the June 2004 target set by the March 25
European Council Declaration for adoption of this
draft.

APPOINTMENT OF EUROPOL DIRECTOR
--------------


7. The term of office of the current (German)
Director of Europol expires on June 30, 2004. EU
sources said the incumbent wishes to continue but
Italy and France have put forward their own
candidates. Ministers held an initial inconclusive
discussion over lunch.

COMMENT
--------------


8. As highlighted by the Ministers' comments, we
see the EU's passenger data initiative as helpful in
terms of potentially re-enforcing our arguments
about the value of this kind of passenger name
record data. More generally, the new momentum
displayed at the March 30 JHA Council owes much to
the post-Madrid atmosphere of "seriousness" observed
in EU corridors, but is also due to the fact that
ministers are coming up against deadlines for the
adoption of a series of measures. The Irish
Presidency and Coordinator de Vries must now use the
timeframe created in the Declaration on Combating
Terrorism to impose a new sense of urgency on the EU
governments.

FOSTER