EU: External Borders Convention
01 July 1992
The proposed Treaty on External Borders, which Home Secretary Kenneth Clarke recently denied knowing was secret, has been awaiting the signature of the twelve EC states since June of last year, when it was held up over disagreements between Spain and Britain over Gibraltar.
An examination of this "secret" Treaty reveals that like the Dublin Convention, signed in June 1990, which defined the country responsible for dealing with an asylum-seeker's application, the External Controls treaty takes important issues of immigration control, policing and information exchange out of the purview of the institutions of the EC. This means that neither the European Parliament nor the Court of Justice of the Community will have any power to intervene to protect the rights of those affected by it.
Some of the key provisions of the draft Treaty are: 1) sanctions for the crossing of external borders other than at authorised places and times; 2) a duty of "effective surveillance" of all external borders by member states, including a duty of cooperation by surveillance services; 3) rigorous controls, by visa and other requirements, on the entry of third country nationals; 4) carrier sanctions for airlines and other passenger carriers who fail to ensure that third country nationals have the necessary travel documents and visas; 5) a common list of countries whose nationals require visas to enter any of the member states; 6) the provision of a uniform visa, valid for all member states, on common conditions and criteria, authorising a total stay of three months; 7) limited "visiting rights" but no free movement for third country nationals already living in the Community; 8) the establishment of a joint computerised list of "inadmissible" third country nationals, by reference to the commission of immigration or other offences or a reasonable belief that the person is planning to commit a serious offence.
It is clear from the draft that many aspects of immigration control are to be shifted from the national to the European level, probably without the benefit of any informed debate. If Parliament and public are to have time to debate the new Convention then it will have to be published quickly because it is due to be signed in Edinburgh in December.
European Information System
Under the Convention the European Information System (EIS) will hold a joint computerised list from the national list of the 12 EC states on "inadmissible third country nationals" (aliens). The Introduction says that the aim of the controls is to "eliminate risks to public order and public security ... and to combat illegal immigration". The joint list will not include nationals of member states. The criteria for putting people to be excluded from the EC on the list are: 1) that they have served a custodial sentence of one year or more; 2) that "information to the effect that the person has committed a serious crime"(italics added); 3) serious grounds for believing they are planning a serious crime, represent a threat to public order or national security of a member state; 4) have committed a serious offence in relation to entry or residence of aliens (Article 10). People wanting to visit an EC country (short stays) will be checked against the computer list and will not be allowed entry if their presence would endanger public order national security or the international relations of member states (Article 7).
Under Article 25 an inter-governmental Executive Committee will be set up and it will be serviced by the General Secretariat of the Council of the EC (inter-governmental co-operation means that the European Parliament will have no say and that policies and practices are not subject to the Court of Justice of the EC). The European Commission will be allowed to participate in the work of the Executive Committee and its working parties.
Draft Convention of the Member States of the European Communities on the crossing of their external borders, Ad<