EU: Justice and Home Affairs Council (1)
01 January 1996
The provisional agendas for the meetings in March and June of the Justice and Home Affairs Council under the Italian Presidency include the following issues:
Immigration
- Aid for voluntary return of foreigners with an irregular status
- Fight against illegal employment of third country nationals
- Conditions for the admission of asylum seekers
- Status of refugees recognised by the EU Member States
Police and Customs cooperation
- Four further sets of regulations on Europol
- Drugs: report from the "ad hoc group Caribbean" and work on harmonising legislation regarding drugs
- "Terrorism: statistics on racism and xenophobia, and extremist religious cults"
- "Access of the United States to the data held by the Europol Drugs Unit, protocol"
A meeting of a Council of Ministers on 21-22 December 1995 formally adopted the Recommendation on harmonising the means of combatting illegal immigration and illegal employment and improving the means of control (the measure was agreed in principle at the Justice and Home Affairs Ministers meeting on 20 June). Also formally adopted at the same meeting were: a Recommendation on concerted action and cooperation in carrying out expulsion measures (agreed in principle on 23 November).
Admission of third-country nationals
Following its agreement in principle on 23 November 1995, the Council adopted on 21-22 December a Decision on monitoring the implementation of instruments already adopted concerning admission of third-country nationals.
"The Decision lays down, inter alia, that each year the Presidency shall forward to the Member States a questionnaire designed to show how they have implemented the instruments already adopted by the Council concerning the admission of third-country nationals.
The questionnaire will refer to the following:
- provisions adopted during the preceding year by the Member States in any of the areas referred to by the instruments already adopted;
- difficulties in adopting those provisions;
- the possibility of any provision in those areas being adopted in the near future;
- application in practice of the instruments, irrespective of the adoption of internal provisions where appropriate.
A report on the application of the instruments referred to in Article 1 will be drawn up on the basis of the replies from the Member States and will be submitted to the Council. The first questionnaire will be sent to the Member States in the first half of 1996."