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Europe - new material (48)

01 January 2006

Asylum support: new rights under EC law, Anneliese Baldaccini, Legal Action February 2006, pp.26-8. This article discusses a number of significant amendments to the Immigration Rules (HC 395) and Asylum Support Regulations 2000 to comply with the EC Directive on reception conditions for asylum seekers. Baldaccini highlights some key areas where the Home Office has failed to write into domestic law important requirements placed on it by the Directive.

EU-USA meeting on justice and home affairs - on Statewatch News Online (April 2006): The full-text of an Informal meeting between the EU and the USA on justice and home affairs covers contentious issues, for example "US side indicated that it was considering approaching each [EU] Member State to ensure that the data collected on the basis of the recently adopted Directive on data retention be accessible to them". This is the measure which will enable the surveillance of all phone-calls, e-mails, faxes, mobile phone-calls and internet usage. Also the: "US side expressed serious concern about the negative impact that the draft Framework Decision on data protection would have on its bilateral relations with Member states if it was to be adopted in its present form". This is a reference to Article 15 of the proposed measure referring to "an adequate level of protection is ensured in the third country" - which raises yet again the fact that there is no protection for non-US citizens. The EU side at the meeting clearly sought to meet this point by saying that: "Member States were divided on the need for such a provision".