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Belgium: Deficiencies in police cooperation and Refugees: Relocation mechanism

Country/Region

01 January 2016

- Commission proposal for a: COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION on addressing the deficiencies identified in the 2015 evaluation on the application of the
Schengen acquis in the field of police cooperation by Belgium (LIMITED COM 571, pdf) The evaluation:

"HEREBY RECOMMENDS: Belgium should::

1. continue its efforts regarding the connections of Police and Customs Cooperation Centres (PCCCs) to the Single Point of Contact (SPOC) via SIENA;

2. continue its efforts to giving wide access to international databases for searches on persons and objects to the local police on a need-to-know basis, and in the same line extending the use of mobile terminals and granting access through them to national police databases;

3. finalise full operational implementation of the Swedish Framework Decision;

4. exploit, while following the example of the plans within the BENELUX Treaty, where from September 2015 a working group is going to work on a more practical and integrated framework for hot pursuits, the possibilities of an enhanced bilateral agreement with France to improve the effectiveness of hot pursuits with this country;

5. improve, while the revision of the entire Belgian IT system is an opportunity to create the basis for a more systematic approach to statistics, the collection of statistics on cross-border operations (in particular on hot pursuits) carried out at all borders."

- Relocation mechanism: Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a crisis relocation mechanism and amending Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 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 (LIMITE doc no: 14951-15, pdf):

Lots of Member State reservations including from Greece: "The number of persons to be relocated shall not exceed 40% of the number of applications lodged with that Member State in the six months preceding the adoption of the delegated act." and:

"The delegations having general or scrutiny reservations reiterated their positions and underlined their wish for a thorough assessment of the functioning of the emergency relocation schemes and stressed the need to address the shortcomings in their implementation. Some delegations recalled their preference for addressing this proposal as part of a broader package on asylum.

The following delegations entered or confirmed their general scrutiny reservations: AT, BE, BG, DE, EE, EL, LV, FI, FR, PT and SI.

CZ, ES, HU, LT, PL and SK have general reservations on the substance of the proposal"

- As above: Relocation: State of play (14513-15, pdf)

"During these discussions, a number of delegations raised general scrutiny reservations and reiterated their positions according to which they consider that it would be preferable to evaluate the functioning of the temporary emergency relocation schemes, adopted by the Council on 14 and 22 September3, before the discussion on the proposal on the crisis relocation mechanism continues. They are of the view that shortcomings in the implementation of the relocation decisions, including the functioning of the hotspots and the prevention of secondary movements, should be addressed as a matter of urgency." [emphasis added]