News
Launched in 1999 and updated regularly, Statewatch News includes our own reporting and writing as well as articles, announcements, documents and analyses from elsewhere on civil liberties, EU policies and state practices. You can receive updates in your inbox by signing up to our mailing list, or use our RSS feed to get instant alerts.
EU: AI Act: Plans to loosen controls on law enforcement use of artificial intelligence
The French Presidency is aiming to loosen restrictions on law enforcement use of "artificial intelligence" technology, with a proposal circulated earlier this week to modify certain provisions in the Commission's proposal. The proposed changes would make it easier to deploy mass biometric surveillance technology in public, and significantly reduce the transparency obligations placed upon the authorities, amongst other things.
EU: Tracking the Pact: Tunisia refuses cooperation with Frontex but will set up an "integrated border surveillance" system
A revised version of the EU's plan for migration cooperation with Tunisia contains a number of updates to the previous versions. It is clear that the North African country, which is in the midst of a wave of protests and a democratic crisis, continues to refuse to cooperate with Frontex - but the provision of millions of euros for an "integrated border surveillance and coastal communication system" is still going ahead. More money is also being provided, with the aim of targeting "young Tunisians prone to migration”.
Spain forsakes international obligations in appalling refoulement of Algerian whistleblower
Statewatch along with a number of other human rights organisations condemns the deportation from Spain to Algeria of Mohamed Benhalima, a human rights activist who faces a serious risk of torture and other ill-treatment in the North African state.
EU: Police cooperation: officers to be allowed to cross borders without notifying the authorities?
A proposed Council Recommendation on operational police cooperation covers "cross-border actions" (such as "hot pursuit, surveillance, joint patrols") and "trans-national actions" (such as "the deployment of law enforcement officers in another Member State during touristic season or a mass-event"). It aims to ensure a uniform legal basis for cross-border law enforcement operations within the EU. The latest compromise text removes a requirement for member states to be notified when officers from another state are to cross into their territory as part of a joint operation.
EU: Tracking the Pact: Externalisation and “Team Europe” at the heart of the “gradual approach”
With negotiations on the laws that make up the EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum making little progress, in January the French Presidency of the Council proposed a “gradual approach” – pickling out some elements on which progress could be made, and leaving others to one side. Key to the plans is the consolidation of political unity amongst member states and EU institutions (“Team Europe”) in order to further externalise migration control.
EU: Free speech under attack: French Presidency proposes action against “radical rhetoric”
The French government has proposed EU action against “entities or individuals” that are “active in the spread of radical rhetoric” as a way to stop “the spread of extremist and violent ideologies and to prevent the radicalisation of new actors.”
EU: Council seeks political guidance and approval on support for Ukranian refugees
On 28 March an extraodinary meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council will discuss "European coordination for the reception of people fleeing the war in Ukraine." A note from the French Presidency to other Council delegations, published here, seeks the views of justice and interior ministers on three issues: implementation of material and financial support to member states; the monitoring and coordination of movements within the EU; support to Moldova and relocation in the EU of Ukranian refugees currently in Moldova.
EU: Fine-tuning surveillance: proposal to enhance monitoring of “most dangerous” terrorists
The French Presidency of the Council has kicked off a discussion on making changes to the Schengen Information System that will make it possible for a greater number of member states to access alerts on the “most dangerous” categories of terrorist, such as foreign terrorist fighters. Any such changes would significantly increase the amount of personal data shared between national authorities, and would require legal amendments to come into force.
Ukraine war sparks revision of EU crime priorities
The French Presidency of the Council is calling for national authorities to increase information-sharing with EU agencies Europol and Frontex "in order to anticipate developments and prepare for and implement a swift and coordinated operational response" to the activities of "criminal networks and individuals" seeking to take advantage of the war in Ukraine.
EU: E-evidence: "the Parliament has moved substantially towards the Council position"
EU institutions have been discussion new rules to ease cross-border gathering of evidence for use in criminal investigations and judicial proceedings since 2018. A letter to the Council from the MEP responsible for the file says that "the Parliament has moved substantially towards the Council position," dropping a number of its initial demands. We are also making public the latest trilogue document on European production and preservation orders, showing the positions of the different institutions and a Council progress report.
EU: Linking development aid to deportation compliance under discussion in the Council
A note from the French Presidency of the Council on the annual implementation of the visa readmission mechanism discusses "the place of readmission levers in the overall management of the relationship with third countries".
EU: Concept Note on providing arms to Ukraine
"Guns, ammunition, rockets and fuel are on their way to your troops," announced the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, in an "address to the Ukranian people" on Sunday 27 February. The address came after the European Council agreed to an "assistance measure" that will provide €500 million worth of weapons to Ukraine using funds from the new European Peace Facility. A Concept Note produced by the Council, publicly available here, outlines the possible pros and cons of that assistance.
Frontex to boost border control efforts in Niger, Algeria and Libya
EU border agency Frontex is to step up its role in Niger, where a liaison officer will cooperate with EU military and security deployments to try to boost control over the borders between Niger, Algeria and Libya.
EU: Deportations: overview of readmission cooperation in key countries
An overview of cooperation on readmission agreements and arrangements with key countries, produced by the European Commission, show that the “external dimension” promoted under the EU’s Pact on Migration and Asylum treats non-cooperation with EU migration policy as worthy of sanction. Despite adopting a coercive outlook, these partnerships in which “readmission is an important component”, are described as “comprehensive, tailor-made and mutually beneficial”.
Tracking the Pact: EU eyes future Frontex deployments in Morocco
A revised draft action plan drawn up by the European Commission on a "comprehensive migration partnership" with Morocco now suggests that the North African country should be informed of "the potential benefits of a status agreement with the European Union" that would allow the deployment of Frontex officials on its territory.
EU to pile pressure on Iraq to cooperate with deportations
The EU is aiming to convince Iraqi authorities to withdraw their opposition to accepting deportations of Iraqi nationals, establish “smooth cooperation” on readmission and integrate “return, readmission and cooperation” into broader EU-Iraq cooperation on migration. This initiative fits within a wider punitive mechanism that includes monitoring cooperation on readmission by partner countries to promote the “external dimension of migration management”.
Frontex: border agency with ballooning budget in transparency tug of war
This week, Frontex has finally acted on its obligation to create a Public Register of Documents, while it is simultaneously the subject of a reportedly explosive report by the EU’s anti-fraud body – a report which is not (yet) public. The European Parliament’s civil liberties committee (LIBE) has demanded the report's publication.
Pushbacks in Greece: Commission calls for investigations and more border surveillance
The European Commission has proposed that the Council of the EU recommend that Greece "carry out independent investigations into all serious allegations of ill-treatment by the Hellenic Police and Hellenic Coast Guard at external borders" that are "capable of leading to the identification and punishment of those responsible."
Civil society calls on the EU to prohibit predictive and profiling AI systems in law enforcement and criminal justice
45 organisations, including Statewatch, are calling on EU decision-makers to prohibit the use of predictive and profiling "artificial intelligence" (AI) systems in the realm of law enforcement and criminal justice, a move that will "ensure full fundamental rights protection for people affected by AI systems, and in particular... prevent the use of AI to exacerbate structural power imbalances."
EU: Transparency: call for "transparent and easily accessible" trilogue negotiations
An open letter to European Commission officials signed by 40 organisations, including Statewatch, calls for transparency in the 'trilogue' negotiations between the Council, Parliament and Commission on two important pieces of legislation - the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act. The proposals could "make digital services safer... protect and empower users, workers and small businesses," says the letter, but have been the subject of massive lobbying efforts by 'big tech', and trilogues are "held behind closed doors and access to documents relating to these discussions are often rejected."
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