Archive
Document: EU measures against transport operators involved in migrant smuggling
The latest Polish Council Presidency draft of the proposed Regulation "on measures against transport operators that facilitate or engage in trafficking in persons or smuggling of migrants". If a company were deemed to be engaged in those activities, the EU would be able to suspend port visitation rights, road or rail transportation licences, or to limit the scope of existing licences. Read More
Artificial intelligence, artificial security: Digital technologies and authoritarian politics
Join Statewatch and the Collaborative Research Center for Resilience to discuss the nexus between state power, digital technologies and security politics in Europe and the USA. Read More
Document: Access to data for effective law enforcement
The Council of the EU's proposed priorities for law enforcement access to data, covering: measures to be implemented immediately; priorities for the European Commission's upcoming "roadmap to ensure lawful and effective access to data"; and ideas for ways to "foster a constructive public discourse." Read More
Longstanding failings in police databases likely to worsen under new deportation law
The EU’s new deportation law will expand a database that has long led to abuses and rights violations, particularly in relation to the right to data protection. Read More
Europe urged to revoke UK’s data adequacy status
Computing, 5 June 2025. Read More
European civil society calls for the protection of the freedom flotilla and an end to the Gaza blockade
A vessel attempting to carry medicine, food, and infant supplies to Gaza is currently sailing across the Mediterranean. A previous attempt at such a voyage was ended following an attack by armed drones. A letter so far signed by 220 organisations and 4,700 individuals calls on European and other governments to take action to ensure the protection of the vessel, and an end to the siege and bombing of Gaza: "The fate of millions of people in Gaza and the humanitarians trying to support them depends on our collective ability to respond with strength and determination." Read More
EU states failing to uphold immigration data safeguards amidst renewed push for deportations
EU member states are violating laws designed to protect individuals from data abuse by police and immigration authorities, according to an official report. This should be a major cause for concern, given plans to introduce new laws to deport more people and ban them from returning to the EU. However, the report does not even name the countries that are failing to follow the law, posing massive challenges for democratic scrutiny and accountability. Read More
Border externalisation: more EU support for violence in North Africa, joint EU-UK plans, and more
Racist violence in North Africa: EU governments know exactly what is happening, and plan to continue support /// EU and UK consider joint external migration control projects /// Africa Frontex Intelligence Community: documents released /// EU officials talk "asylum policy and homeland security" at European Police Congress Read More
How the EU coordinates the outsourcing of migration control
It is no secret that the EU is seeking greater cooperation from non-EU states in its migration control agenda. Less is known, however, about precisely how that cooperation is organised and encouraged. A document produced last year and released in response to an access to documents request from Statewatch provides some further details on the topic, pointing to avenues for advocacy, research and investigation. Read More
UK undermining data protection rights and putting EU agreements at risk
Changes to UK law will undermine data protection standards, posing risks to individual rights and leading to calls for the EU to review the "adequacy decisions" that deem the UK a safe destination for transfers of personal data. A letter from seven organisations, including Statewatch, calls for the EU to urgently reassess the UK's adequacy status, "to protect fundamental rights and uphold its credibility as both the guardian of the EU’s legal order and a global leader in digital rule-making." However, the EU is also currently seeking to downgrade data protection standards, for the same purpose: economic deregulation. Read More