Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08BRUSSELS1600
2008-10-17 12:47:00
CONFIDENTIAL
USEU Brussels
how-toVZCZCXRO8146 PP RUEHAG RUEHKW RUEHROV DE RUEHBS #1600/01 2911247 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 171247Z OCT 08 FM USEU BRUSSELS TO RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY RHEFHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RHMFISS/FBI WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY RUEABND/DEA WASHDC PRIORITY INFO RUCNMUC/EU CANDIDATE STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUCNMEU/EU INTEREST COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 BRUSSELS 001600
SIPDIS
STATE FOR INL/FO, INL/PC, EUR/ERA, L/LEI;
JUSTICE FOR CRIMINAL DIVISION, OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL
AFFAIRS;
HOMELAND SECURITY FOR OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, CBP
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/17/2016
TAGS: KCRM PGOV PREL SNAR EUN
SUBJECT: JHA HAPPENINGS
REF: A. BRUSSELS 1500
B. BRUSSELS 1587 (NOTAL)
Classified By: INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
AFFAIRS (INL) COUNSELOR JAMES P. MCANULTY FOR REASONS
1.4 (B) AND (D)
------------
INTRODUCTION
------------
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 BRUSSELS 001600
SIPDIS
STATE FOR INL/FO, INL/PC, EUR/ERA, L/LEI;
JUSTICE FOR CRIMINAL DIVISION, OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL
AFFAIRS;
HOMELAND SECURITY FOR OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, CBP
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/17/2016
TAGS: KCRM PGOV PREL SNAR EUN
SUBJECT: JHA HAPPENINGS
REF: A. BRUSSELS 1500
B. BRUSSELS 1587 (NOTAL)
Classified By: INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
AFFAIRS (INL) COUNSELOR JAMES P. MCANULTY FOR REASONS
1.4 (B) AND (D)
--------------
INTRODUCTION
--------------
1. (U) This is the inaugural edition of "JHA Happenings," a
periodical on United States - European Union cooperation on
transnational crimes and terrorism, which comprise the
Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) portfolio in European Union
(EU) circles. We intend for these updates to complement the
Mission's spot reports and electronic- mail updates ("USEU
Today"). Departments, agencies, and sections at the Mission
involved in JHA issues include the Department of Justice
(including the Criminal Division, Federal Bureau of
Investigation, and Drug Enforcement Administration),the
Department of Homeland Security (including Customs and Border
Protection),the Department of State (including
representatives from International Narcotics and Law
Enforcement Affairs, Consular Affairs, Diplomatic Security,
Public Diplomacy, and Population, Refugees, and Migration),
the Agency for International Development, and the Political
and Economic Sections. END INTRODUCTION.
-------------- --
U.S.-EU MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE AND EXTRADITION
AGREEMENTS
-------------- --
2. (U) The U.S. Senate ratified the U.S.-EU Mutual Legal
Assistance (MLA) and Extradition Agreements and related
bilateral Agreements and protocols on September 23. The
related bilateral instruments were necessary to enable the
various Member States with out-dated extradition and MLA
agreements with the U.S to implement the new over-arching
ones. On the EU side, to date, 23 Member States have
completed their ratification procedures (which vary from
country to country in complexity). Four EU Member States,
Belgium, Greece, Ireland, and Italy, must complete
ratification procedures before these important agreements --
negotiated in the wake of the September 11 attacks -- enter
into force.
3. (U) The new U.S.-EU agreements streamline the extradition
and legal assistance processes, reducing
formality (e.g., allowing requests to be made electronically
or by facsimile),shortening response deadlines, and
advocating direct prosecutor-to-prosecutor contact. Notably,
the U.S.-EU MLA Agreement will facilitate access by
investigators to financial records, authorize requests and
responses in administrative (e.g., SEC) as well as criminal
proceedings, permit the creation of U.S.-EU Joint
Investigative Teams (JITs),and allow for taking of testimony
via digital video conference links, among other innovative
measures. The U.S.-EU Extradition Agreement modernizes the
identification of extraditable offenses by replacing outdated
"lists" of offenses contained in many existing bilateral
extradition treaties, with the simple notion that what
constitutes a serious offense in both jurisdictions is
conduct for which extradition may be sought. The new
agreement will also put U.S. requests for extradition on
equal footing with Member States, European Arrest Warrant
(EAW) requests for the same defendant. With the new
provision, the U.S. and the EU Member States will have a
means of sequencing prosecutions so as to avoid having a
prior, lower-level prosecution of a defendant bar ("non bis
in edem") a subsequent more serious crime prosecution in
another jurisdiction. The new U.S.-EU agreement will also
allow for the "temporary extradition" of a defendant
convicted and serving a sentence in one jurisdiction to be
rendered to a second jurisdiction for prosecution while the
witnesses and other proof are still readily available.
-------------- --------------
SEMINAR ON MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE AND EXTRADITION
AGREEMENTS
BRUSSELS 00001600 002 OF 005
-------------- --------------
4. (U) The United States, the European Commission, and the
EU's Judicial Coordination Unit (EUROJUST) plan to co-host a
seminar for practitioners in November in The Hague on
implementation of the Mutual Legal Assistance and Extradition
Agreements. Both agreements contain innovative procedures
which require study by prosecutors and police from both the
United States and the EU Member States.
-------------- --------------
RESPONSE TO DIRECTOR GENERAL FAULL ON JUDICIAL REDRESS
-------------- --------------
5. (SBU) Mission delivered the response to Commission
Justice, Freedom and Security (JLS) Director General Jonathan
Faull during the week of September 15 in answer to his
request for an explanation of the availability of judicial
redress in U.S. courts for non-U.S. persons alleging
violations of their data privacy. The request arose from a
misplaced concentration on a single U.S. Law, the Privacy Act
of 1974, that limits redress in court to U.S. persons. The
entire High Level Contact Group (HLCG) process of the last 18
months has been undertaken because the EU and U.S. have very
different but arguably effective privacy regimes. The EU
system rests on a single draft Framework Decision implemented
by the Member States and the U.S. regime with its
multiplicity of overlapping laws, regulations, mechanisms,
and doctrines. Singling out one rather old U.S. law
mistakenly ignored the entire purpose and process of the HLCG.
6. (SBU) The letter response, cleared inter-agency in
Washington and Brussels, included a matrix of hypothetical
situations and statutory authorizations in which any
individual, regardless of nationality, could file a U.S.
civil court action seeking redress. At the same time, the
response stressed that our focus should not be on "judicial
redress," but rather on "effective redress," which many times
would not necessarily be obtained through a lengthy court
process. The response requested a similar analysis and
matrix from the EU side for its data protection system. At
the close of the letter, the U.S. requested a prompt
in-person U.S.-EU HLCG Experts-Level meeting in Washington.
--------------
FOLLOW UP ON HIGH LEVEL CONTACT GROUP
--------------
7. (C) U.S. and EU officials subsequently agreed to hold an
HLCG Experts-Level Meeting (per above) via Digital Video
Conference (DVC) during the week of October 17, after Mission
followed up informally with Commission, Council Secretariat,
and French Presidency colleagues to generate collective
interest in a meeting. We also need to ensure that we remain
on track with various "action items" in advance of our
December Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Ministerial Meeting
in Washington. To date, the French Presidency, confronted by
the Russia-Georgia and global financial crises, appears to be
focused primarily on migration issues within the JHA
portfolio. The U.S. side does not want a lapse in meetings
to slow momentum towards negotiation of a binding
international agreement to enhance law enforcement
information sharing while maintaining appropriate data
privacy. We also need to find a solution to avoid any
"chilling" of the robust exchange of critical law enforcement
and terrorism information in the interim. Earlier, the EU
side had suggested waiting until after entry into force of
the Treaty of Lisbon to negotiate a long term agreement. The
rejection of the Lisbon Treaty in the Irish referendum,
however, has made delaying our U.S.-EU negotiations no longer
a reasonable option.
--------------
TREATY OF LISBON
--------------
8. (C) Brussels-based print media have carried extensive
speculation on possible options to revive the Treaty of
Lisbon. (Ireland is the only Member State whose constitution
explicitly requires a referendum for approval of a new EU
treaty.) Speculation centers on the possibility of
BRUSSELS 00001600 003 OF 005
organizing a second referendum in the autumn of 2009 after EU
leaders provide Ireland with written assurances regarding
specific treaty provisions that may have contributed to its
rejection. Still, many Irish voters reportedly remain
opposed to a new vote. For the moment, EU officials seem
resigned to the idea that the earliest possibe time frame
for entry into force of the Treat would be 2010.
Accordingly, elections for the new European Parliament will
proceed in mid-2009 under the existing EU legal and
institutional framework.
--------------
VISA WAIVER PROGRAM AND ESTA UPDATES
--------------
9. (U) The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is working
diligently with countries in the EU and elsewhere seeking to
enter the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP) for the first time.
In the EU DHS is proceeding upon the agreed-upon "two-trck
approach." On the "Member State track," iplementation
arrangements are being developed The U.S. (Department of
Justice and DHS) has recently signed law enforcement
information-sharing agreements (Agreements for Enhancing
Cooperation in Preventing and Combating Crime) with Estonia,
Hungary, and Latvia, which will be relied upon as one part of
the implementation arrangements. Consultations have begun on
the sharing of terrorist look-out information and, if
agreement can be reached, these Homeland Security
Presidential Directive (HSPD-6) agreements will comprise a
second part of the implementation arrangements. On the "EC
track," JLS Commission Director General Faull and French
Presidency Representative Laurent Pic were in Washington the
week of October 6 to meet with DHS, State, and DOJ officials
on VWP, among other topics. As the process to expand the
program continues, the regular two-year reviews of
participating VWP countries are ongoing.
10. (U) DHS reports that the pilot program of the Electronic
System of Travel Authority (ESTA),which has been running for
several weeks now, is proceeding well. As expected during
this voluntary ESTA participation time, only a very
negligible percentage of travelers have had their requests
denied. Those few unsuccessful applicants were then referred
to their nearest consulate to make an in-person application
for a visa. DHS has used this voluntary pilot period to
identify any glitches in the software and to correct any
apparent confusion occasioned by the wording of the questions
on the form. The ESTA will become a mandatory procedure in
January 2009.
--------------
TECHNICAL SEMINAR ON EXPLOSIVES
--------------
11. (U) As a follow-up to a recommendation adopted at the JHA
Ministerial Meeting under the Slovenian Presidency, U.S. and
EU officials are organizing a technical seminar or conference
for explosives experts. At a preparatory meeting in Brussels
on October 1, U.S. and EU officials worked to finalize the
agenda, format, and number and level of participants. On the
U.S. side, we anticipate that technical experts from DHS, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms, and Explosives Bureau, and the State Department's
Diplomatic Security Bureau will participate in the technical
session, tentatively scheduled for early December.
--------------
"THIRD COUNTRY" JHA LUNCHEON
--------------
12. (U) Mission DCM hosted a luncheon for Justice and Home
Affairs (JHA) Counselors from 16 non-EU nations on September
19 at the Brussels Public Diplomacy Regional Hub conference
area. Guest speakers, the President of the European Union's
Judicial Cooperation Unit (EUROJUST),Jose Luis Lopes da Mota
(of Portugal),and the Chairperson of EUROJUST's External
Relations Team, Malci Gabrijelcic (of Slovenia),spoke
in-depth about EUROJUST's evolving role in fighting organized
and transnational crimes. This was the first time in a long
time that the Mission hosted this periodic luncheon series.
Representatives from the Brussels-based diplomatic missions
BRUSSELS 00001600 004 OF 005
of Canada, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, Australia,
Switzerland, Iceland and Mexico have been regular
participants at these luncheons. Representative from other
countries, including Malaysia, Israel, Singapore, Turkey, and
Croatia, joined the group on this occasion. (See Brussels
1500 for more details on the remarks on EUROJUST.)
--------------
U.S.-EU TROIKA MEETING ON DRUG ISSUES
--------------
13. (U) The next meeting of the U.S.-EU Troika meeting on
Drug Issues will occur November 14 in Brussels. The U.S.
side recently presented a proposed agenda for comment and
concurrence by EU colleagues.
--------------
U.S.-EU COTER - TWP TROIKA MEETING
--------------
14. (U) According to a contact at the Council Secretariat,
the next U.S.-EU Committee on Terrorism (COTER) - Terrorism
Working Party (TWP) Troika meeting is planned in Washington,
D.C., for November 20. The two previous COTER Troika
meetings were in Brussels and Lisbon.
--------------
TERRORIST FINANCING CASES IN THE ECJ
--------------
15. (SBU) Mission continues to provide a consultative link,
when requested, for EU staff and EU Member States on possible
EU actions following the decision of the European Court of
Justice (ECJ) in the Kadi and al-Barakaat cases. The ECJ
found the EU scheme for implementation of the UN sanctions
designations for Kadi and Al-Barakaat violative of EU
fundamental rights guarantees (for notice, representation by
informed counsel, etc.) before property was effectively
"taken" as a result of the designation. The EU has three
months to correct the identified flaws in its scheme in these
two designations. EU officials and legal advisors continue
to weigh the possible wider consequences for the EU sanctions
implementation program of this ECJ decision and possible
determinations in follow-on cases now pending on the court's
docket.
--------------
WORLD CUSTOMS ORGANIZATION
--------------
16. (U) The World Customs Organization (WCO) will host a SAFE
Working Group meeting in Brussels in October that will focus
on supply chain security and Customs risk management
protocols, as well as a SECURE Working Group meeting that
will continue to refine Customs "best practices" in combating
intellectual property rights violations. The Joint Customs
Cooperation Committee (JCCC),made up of personnel from
Customs and Border Protection and the European Commission's
Taxation and Customs Union Directorate General (DG-TAXUD),
will hold a technical meeting in Washington, D.C., from
November 5 to 6. Cooperation and collaboration continues to
be strong between the U.S. and EU on these focal areas.
-------------- --------------
EU HEADS OF STATE ENDORSE IMMIGRATION AND ASYLUM PACT
-------------- --------------
17. (U) At their October 15 to 16 European Council meeting,
EU Heads of State unanimously endorsed the European Pact on
Immigration and Asylum as agreed by their Ministers at an
earlier JHA Council meeting. The French Presidency designed
the Pact to serve as the foundation for a common EU policy in
the area and as a reference political document for EU Member
States to organize legal immigration, combat illegal
immigration, improve the effectiveness of border controls,
address asylum, and develop a global partnership with
countries of origin and transit by promoting a synergy
between immigration and development. French President and
European Council Chairperson Nicolas Sarkozy told his
concluding Summit press conference that the Pact's
endorsement marked the achievement of a major objective of
BRUSSELS 00001600 005 OF 005
the French Presidency for its six-month term in office.
Sarkozy said the EU was now "equipped with a true immigration
policy." (See Brussels 1587 for more details.)
SILVERBERG
.
SIPDIS
STATE FOR INL/FO, INL/PC, EUR/ERA, L/LEI;
JUSTICE FOR CRIMINAL DIVISION, OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL
AFFAIRS;
HOMELAND SECURITY FOR OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, CBP
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/17/2016
TAGS: KCRM PGOV PREL SNAR EUN
SUBJECT: JHA HAPPENINGS
REF: A. BRUSSELS 1500
B. BRUSSELS 1587 (NOTAL)
Classified By: INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
AFFAIRS (INL) COUNSELOR JAMES P. MCANULTY FOR REASONS
1.4 (B) AND (D)
--------------
INTRODUCTION
--------------
1. (U) This is the inaugural edition of "JHA Happenings," a
periodical on United States - European Union cooperation on
transnational crimes and terrorism, which comprise the
Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) portfolio in European Union
(EU) circles. We intend for these updates to complement the
Mission's spot reports and electronic- mail updates ("USEU
Today"). Departments, agencies, and sections at the Mission
involved in JHA issues include the Department of Justice
(including the Criminal Division, Federal Bureau of
Investigation, and Drug Enforcement Administration),the
Department of Homeland Security (including Customs and Border
Protection),the Department of State (including
representatives from International Narcotics and Law
Enforcement Affairs, Consular Affairs, Diplomatic Security,
Public Diplomacy, and Population, Refugees, and Migration),
the Agency for International Development, and the Political
and Economic Sections. END INTRODUCTION.
-------------- --
U.S.-EU MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE AND EXTRADITION
AGREEMENTS
-------------- --
2. (U) The U.S. Senate ratified the U.S.-EU Mutual Legal
Assistance (MLA) and Extradition Agreements and related
bilateral Agreements and protocols on September 23. The
related bilateral instruments were necessary to enable the
various Member States with out-dated extradition and MLA
agreements with the U.S to implement the new over-arching
ones. On the EU side, to date, 23 Member States have
completed their ratification procedures (which vary from
country to country in complexity). Four EU Member States,
Belgium, Greece, Ireland, and Italy, must complete
ratification procedures before these important agreements --
negotiated in the wake of the September 11 attacks -- enter
into force.
3. (U) The new U.S.-EU agreements streamline the extradition
and legal assistance processes, reducing
formality (e.g., allowing requests to be made electronically
or by facsimile),shortening response deadlines, and
advocating direct prosecutor-to-prosecutor contact. Notably,
the U.S.-EU MLA Agreement will facilitate access by
investigators to financial records, authorize requests and
responses in administrative (e.g., SEC) as well as criminal
proceedings, permit the creation of U.S.-EU Joint
Investigative Teams (JITs),and allow for taking of testimony
via digital video conference links, among other innovative
measures. The U.S.-EU Extradition Agreement modernizes the
identification of extraditable offenses by replacing outdated
"lists" of offenses contained in many existing bilateral
extradition treaties, with the simple notion that what
constitutes a serious offense in both jurisdictions is
conduct for which extradition may be sought. The new
agreement will also put U.S. requests for extradition on
equal footing with Member States, European Arrest Warrant
(EAW) requests for the same defendant. With the new
provision, the U.S. and the EU Member States will have a
means of sequencing prosecutions so as to avoid having a
prior, lower-level prosecution of a defendant bar ("non bis
in edem") a subsequent more serious crime prosecution in
another jurisdiction. The new U.S.-EU agreement will also
allow for the "temporary extradition" of a defendant
convicted and serving a sentence in one jurisdiction to be
rendered to a second jurisdiction for prosecution while the
witnesses and other proof are still readily available.
-------------- --------------
SEMINAR ON MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE AND EXTRADITION
AGREEMENTS
BRUSSELS 00001600 002 OF 005
-------------- --------------
4. (U) The United States, the European Commission, and the
EU's Judicial Coordination Unit (EUROJUST) plan to co-host a
seminar for practitioners in November in The Hague on
implementation of the Mutual Legal Assistance and Extradition
Agreements. Both agreements contain innovative procedures
which require study by prosecutors and police from both the
United States and the EU Member States.
-------------- --------------
RESPONSE TO DIRECTOR GENERAL FAULL ON JUDICIAL REDRESS
-------------- --------------
5. (SBU) Mission delivered the response to Commission
Justice, Freedom and Security (JLS) Director General Jonathan
Faull during the week of September 15 in answer to his
request for an explanation of the availability of judicial
redress in U.S. courts for non-U.S. persons alleging
violations of their data privacy. The request arose from a
misplaced concentration on a single U.S. Law, the Privacy Act
of 1974, that limits redress in court to U.S. persons. The
entire High Level Contact Group (HLCG) process of the last 18
months has been undertaken because the EU and U.S. have very
different but arguably effective privacy regimes. The EU
system rests on a single draft Framework Decision implemented
by the Member States and the U.S. regime with its
multiplicity of overlapping laws, regulations, mechanisms,
and doctrines. Singling out one rather old U.S. law
mistakenly ignored the entire purpose and process of the HLCG.
6. (SBU) The letter response, cleared inter-agency in
Washington and Brussels, included a matrix of hypothetical
situations and statutory authorizations in which any
individual, regardless of nationality, could file a U.S.
civil court action seeking redress. At the same time, the
response stressed that our focus should not be on "judicial
redress," but rather on "effective redress," which many times
would not necessarily be obtained through a lengthy court
process. The response requested a similar analysis and
matrix from the EU side for its data protection system. At
the close of the letter, the U.S. requested a prompt
in-person U.S.-EU HLCG Experts-Level meeting in Washington.
--------------
FOLLOW UP ON HIGH LEVEL CONTACT GROUP
--------------
7. (C) U.S. and EU officials subsequently agreed to hold an
HLCG Experts-Level Meeting (per above) via Digital Video
Conference (DVC) during the week of October 17, after Mission
followed up informally with Commission, Council Secretariat,
and French Presidency colleagues to generate collective
interest in a meeting. We also need to ensure that we remain
on track with various "action items" in advance of our
December Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Ministerial Meeting
in Washington. To date, the French Presidency, confronted by
the Russia-Georgia and global financial crises, appears to be
focused primarily on migration issues within the JHA
portfolio. The U.S. side does not want a lapse in meetings
to slow momentum towards negotiation of a binding
international agreement to enhance law enforcement
information sharing while maintaining appropriate data
privacy. We also need to find a solution to avoid any
"chilling" of the robust exchange of critical law enforcement
and terrorism information in the interim. Earlier, the EU
side had suggested waiting until after entry into force of
the Treaty of Lisbon to negotiate a long term agreement. The
rejection of the Lisbon Treaty in the Irish referendum,
however, has made delaying our U.S.-EU negotiations no longer
a reasonable option.
--------------
TREATY OF LISBON
--------------
8. (C) Brussels-based print media have carried extensive
speculation on possible options to revive the Treaty of
Lisbon. (Ireland is the only Member State whose constitution
explicitly requires a referendum for approval of a new EU
treaty.) Speculation centers on the possibility of
BRUSSELS 00001600 003 OF 005
organizing a second referendum in the autumn of 2009 after EU
leaders provide Ireland with written assurances regarding
specific treaty provisions that may have contributed to its
rejection. Still, many Irish voters reportedly remain
opposed to a new vote. For the moment, EU officials seem
resigned to the idea that the earliest possibe time frame
for entry into force of the Treat would be 2010.
Accordingly, elections for the new European Parliament will
proceed in mid-2009 under the existing EU legal and
institutional framework.
--------------
VISA WAIVER PROGRAM AND ESTA UPDATES
--------------
9. (U) The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is working
diligently with countries in the EU and elsewhere seeking to
enter the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP) for the first time.
In the EU DHS is proceeding upon the agreed-upon "two-trck
approach." On the "Member State track," iplementation
arrangements are being developed The U.S. (Department of
Justice and DHS) has recently signed law enforcement
information-sharing agreements (Agreements for Enhancing
Cooperation in Preventing and Combating Crime) with Estonia,
Hungary, and Latvia, which will be relied upon as one part of
the implementation arrangements. Consultations have begun on
the sharing of terrorist look-out information and, if
agreement can be reached, these Homeland Security
Presidential Directive (HSPD-6) agreements will comprise a
second part of the implementation arrangements. On the "EC
track," JLS Commission Director General Faull and French
Presidency Representative Laurent Pic were in Washington the
week of October 6 to meet with DHS, State, and DOJ officials
on VWP, among other topics. As the process to expand the
program continues, the regular two-year reviews of
participating VWP countries are ongoing.
10. (U) DHS reports that the pilot program of the Electronic
System of Travel Authority (ESTA),which has been running for
several weeks now, is proceeding well. As expected during
this voluntary ESTA participation time, only a very
negligible percentage of travelers have had their requests
denied. Those few unsuccessful applicants were then referred
to their nearest consulate to make an in-person application
for a visa. DHS has used this voluntary pilot period to
identify any glitches in the software and to correct any
apparent confusion occasioned by the wording of the questions
on the form. The ESTA will become a mandatory procedure in
January 2009.
--------------
TECHNICAL SEMINAR ON EXPLOSIVES
--------------
11. (U) As a follow-up to a recommendation adopted at the JHA
Ministerial Meeting under the Slovenian Presidency, U.S. and
EU officials are organizing a technical seminar or conference
for explosives experts. At a preparatory meeting in Brussels
on October 1, U.S. and EU officials worked to finalize the
agenda, format, and number and level of participants. On the
U.S. side, we anticipate that technical experts from DHS, the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms, and Explosives Bureau, and the State Department's
Diplomatic Security Bureau will participate in the technical
session, tentatively scheduled for early December.
--------------
"THIRD COUNTRY" JHA LUNCHEON
--------------
12. (U) Mission DCM hosted a luncheon for Justice and Home
Affairs (JHA) Counselors from 16 non-EU nations on September
19 at the Brussels Public Diplomacy Regional Hub conference
area. Guest speakers, the President of the European Union's
Judicial Cooperation Unit (EUROJUST),Jose Luis Lopes da Mota
(of Portugal),and the Chairperson of EUROJUST's External
Relations Team, Malci Gabrijelcic (of Slovenia),spoke
in-depth about EUROJUST's evolving role in fighting organized
and transnational crimes. This was the first time in a long
time that the Mission hosted this periodic luncheon series.
Representatives from the Brussels-based diplomatic missions
BRUSSELS 00001600 004 OF 005
of Canada, Japan, Norway, New Zealand, Australia,
Switzerland, Iceland and Mexico have been regular
participants at these luncheons. Representative from other
countries, including Malaysia, Israel, Singapore, Turkey, and
Croatia, joined the group on this occasion. (See Brussels
1500 for more details on the remarks on EUROJUST.)
--------------
U.S.-EU TROIKA MEETING ON DRUG ISSUES
--------------
13. (U) The next meeting of the U.S.-EU Troika meeting on
Drug Issues will occur November 14 in Brussels. The U.S.
side recently presented a proposed agenda for comment and
concurrence by EU colleagues.
--------------
U.S.-EU COTER - TWP TROIKA MEETING
--------------
14. (U) According to a contact at the Council Secretariat,
the next U.S.-EU Committee on Terrorism (COTER) - Terrorism
Working Party (TWP) Troika meeting is planned in Washington,
D.C., for November 20. The two previous COTER Troika
meetings were in Brussels and Lisbon.
--------------
TERRORIST FINANCING CASES IN THE ECJ
--------------
15. (SBU) Mission continues to provide a consultative link,
when requested, for EU staff and EU Member States on possible
EU actions following the decision of the European Court of
Justice (ECJ) in the Kadi and al-Barakaat cases. The ECJ
found the EU scheme for implementation of the UN sanctions
designations for Kadi and Al-Barakaat violative of EU
fundamental rights guarantees (for notice, representation by
informed counsel, etc.) before property was effectively
"taken" as a result of the designation. The EU has three
months to correct the identified flaws in its scheme in these
two designations. EU officials and legal advisors continue
to weigh the possible wider consequences for the EU sanctions
implementation program of this ECJ decision and possible
determinations in follow-on cases now pending on the court's
docket.
--------------
WORLD CUSTOMS ORGANIZATION
--------------
16. (U) The World Customs Organization (WCO) will host a SAFE
Working Group meeting in Brussels in October that will focus
on supply chain security and Customs risk management
protocols, as well as a SECURE Working Group meeting that
will continue to refine Customs "best practices" in combating
intellectual property rights violations. The Joint Customs
Cooperation Committee (JCCC),made up of personnel from
Customs and Border Protection and the European Commission's
Taxation and Customs Union Directorate General (DG-TAXUD),
will hold a technical meeting in Washington, D.C., from
November 5 to 6. Cooperation and collaboration continues to
be strong between the U.S. and EU on these focal areas.
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EU HEADS OF STATE ENDORSE IMMIGRATION AND ASYLUM PACT
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17. (U) At their October 15 to 16 European Council meeting,
EU Heads of State unanimously endorsed the European Pact on
Immigration and Asylum as agreed by their Ministers at an
earlier JHA Council meeting. The French Presidency designed
the Pact to serve as the foundation for a common EU policy in
the area and as a reference political document for EU Member
States to organize legal immigration, combat illegal
immigration, improve the effectiveness of border controls,
address asylum, and develop a global partnership with
countries of origin and transit by promoting a synergy
between immigration and development. French President and
European Council Chairperson Nicolas Sarkozy told his
concluding Summit press conference that the Pact's
endorsement marked the achievement of a major objective of
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the French Presidency for its six-month term in office.
Sarkozy said the EU was now "equipped with a true immigration
policy." (See Brussels 1587 for more details.)
SILVERBERG
.