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News Stories that Critique Social and Institutional Practices


Critiques in the News of Social and Institutional Practices that Undermine Critical Thinking and the Emergence of Critical Societies

There are two opposing social tendencies relevant to critical thinking, each supported by multiple driving forces. One is the tendency to social control and intolerance, to conformity and obedience, to fixity of belief and the preservation of traditional myths and delusions, to dogmas and vested interest pronouncements. The other is to critical analysis; to the transformation of beliefs; to questioning, doubt, and reason focused on the improvement of social life and conditions.

Critical thinking can flourish only to the extent that societies support freedom of thought. Significant support for freedom of thought presupposes social stability, open access to information and knowledge and authentic commitment to maintaining that access. Social and institutional practices that undermine the emergence of such societies warrant critique using the best critical thinking.

There are many possible sources for stories documenting social practices that discourage critical thinking and/or the emergence of critical societies. We cannot cover all such stories. Nevertheless, we believe it is our responsibility to highlight practices inconsistent with fair-minded critical thinking. The stories in this section come from Statewatch, a European watchdog research group. Eventually we hope to provide such critiques on events the world over.  

Consistent with the protocols of independent critical thought, the Foundation for Critical Thinking is non- political. The stories are provided here for your analysis and assessment. We believe that, in general, Statewatch is a paradigm of sound scholarship. However, if you judge any story to be inaccurate or misleading, you may challenge the story (citing your reasoning or evidence).

For full contents see: Statewatch News online with analysis, documentation, news in brief and News Archives 2000-ongoing or What's New: which lists all News Online and News in Brief items. The latest 25 lead items are listed below.

May 2012

 EU: Statewatch Analysis: Access to EU documents: Article-by-Article commentary, ‘Red Lines’ for the negotiations, and the undemocratic recast procedure (pdf) by Steve Peers, Professor of Law, Law School, University of Essex.

On 10 May 2012, the Danish Presidency of the Council put on the agenda of Coreper (the EU body consisting of Member States' representatives to the EU) a draft deal on the proposed Regulation on access to documents. This deal, if agreed, would constitute the Council's position for negotiations with the European Parliament (EP), which has joint decision-making powers on this proposal. This analysis examines the draft deal on an article-by-article basis and concludes: 

- The draft position of the Council constitutes a significant overall reduction in the level of access to documents.

- In particular, the council's definition of a 'document' is of doubtful legality and would exclude massive numbers of documents from the scope of the rules.

- The EP should not accept the Council proposal in its present form, or any variation thereof which would significantly reduce current standards.

- In particular, the EP should make clear to the Council that it cannot in any circumstances accept the proposed definition of a 'document'. If the Council is adamant on including this definition, the EP should instantly veto the proposal.

- The Commission's decision to present negotiations in the form of a 'recast' - a profoundly undemocratic and indeed surely illegal procedure - has prevented the EP from pressing for most of the changes it has unanimously voted for.

- The EP and the Council should immediately denounce the pernicous and illegal Inter-institutional Agreement on the recasting of EU Acts.

 EU: Tribunal 12 renders its verdict: Europe guilty of breaching human rights of foreigners (link) Inspired by the International War Crimes Tribunal that was formed by Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre in 1967, Tribunal 12 sets out to locate the moral, legal and political responsibilities as well as call for a change within the system.

 UK: Report of the Independent monitoring board on the non-residential short term holding facilities at London Heathrow airport for the year February 2011 to January 2012 (pdf) See also: UK Border Agency 'detaining children in degrading conditions' at Heathrow (Guardian, link) Children held in small, stuffy rooms at airport for hours, often sharing space with adults they are not related to, watchdog finds.

 EU: A drop of fundamental rights in an ocean of unaccountability: Frontex in the process of implementing Article 26(a)(link). On 27 April, Frontex presented a tentative timeline in view of the establishment of the controversial Consultative Forum on Fundamental Rights which comes as a result of negotiations between the Council and the European Parliament in November 2011. [1] While European borders remain some of the most murderous in the world, details of the establishment process of this new body confirm the pre-eminence of the Management Board and Member States in the functioning of Frontex, and the leaving aside of any democratic oversight and independent monitoring mechanism.

 SPAIN: Less-lethal weapons and public order: Athletic Bilbao fan killed by a plastic bullet (link). An Athletico Bilbao football fan celebrating his team's win on 5 April 2012 became the latest victim of the Basque police force's use of plastic bullets. The death sparked fresh debate over the legitimacy of the practice.

 EU: Council of the European Union: EU Action on Migratory Pressures - A Strategic Response (9650/12, pdf)

 EU: EMCDDA trend report for the evaluation of the 2005–12 EU drugs strategy (pdf)

 EU: Fiscal Policy: Growth dimension and control of new Commission powers needed (European parliament website, link).The European Commission should have more control over fiscal policy in EU Member States, but not the free rein it asked for, says the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee in texts, voted on Monday, stating a position on the economic governance "two pack". This increased power must be democratically controlled and serve to spur economic growth, MEPs say.

 EU: EMCDDA–Europol 2011 Annual Report on the implementation of Council Decision 2005/387/JHA In accordance with Article 10 of Council Decision 2005/387/JHA on the information exchange, risk assessment and control of new psychoactive substances (pdf)

 ITALY: Joint public statement: Dichiarazione Congiunta: Leave “Nomad Emergency” in the Past (Rome, May 11, 2012, pdf).The Italian government should abandon any initiative aimed at perpetuating the effects of the past “Nomad Emergency,” Associazione 21 luglio, the Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration (ASGI), Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Open Society Justice Initiative said today. The Nomad Emergency, a state of emergency declared in five Italian regions giving local authorities special powers with respect to Roma and Roma settlements, was declared unlawful by the Council of State, the highest administrative court, in November 2011.

 EU: REGULATION ON PUBLIC ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS: Council seeks to re-write the definition of a "document" after 19 years: Recast of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (first reading) - Preparation of informal trilogues (pdf). Since 1993 the definition of a "document" has been that a:"document shall mean any content whatever its medium" and this is in the current Regulation. However, the Council intends to keep this general definition (Article 3) but to add Article 3a: "Documents subject to this Regulation": which says a document becomes subject to this Regulation (ie: the whole Regulation) when: "it has been drawn up by an institution and either formally transmitted to one or more recipients, submitted for filing or registration, approved by the competent official, or otherwise completed for the purposes for which it was intended" (emphasis added) In simple terms a "document" is only really a "document" when it is finalised (all the drafts and discussion prior to this are not "documents") - this is the same definition, which was widely criticised, first put forward by the Commission in 2008. .

The double-faced language of the Council position means also that while it appears in Article 12 that documents concerning legislative and non-legislative acts: "shall, subject to Articles 4 and 9, be made directly accessible to the public" they are still subject to the general rule in Article 3a above. It would thus negate Articles 15.1 and 15.3 para 5 of the Lisbon Treaty.

Tony Bunyan, Statewatch Director, comments:

" In 1997 the Amsterdam Treaty promised to "enshrine" the public's right of access to EU documents but in 2001 we only got half the cake. If the Council and the Commission get their way we will be left with just a few crumbs [small fragments]. Access to documents is the life-blood of a healthy, vibrant, democracy which encourages informed consent and dissent. Instead the Council wants an unaccountable democracy bereft of content and meaning."

Sign up to the Call for an Open Europe

 EU: REGULATION ON PUBLIC ACCESS TO DOCUMENT: Statewatch challenges Council secrecy on access to EU documents on the revision of the Regulation: Letter from the Council refusing access to three documents concerning the Council's discussions on revising the Regulation on access to EU documents (pdf) in response a: Confirmatory application by Tony Bunyan, on behalf of Statewatch (pdf)

The Council had hidden three crucial documents and claimed that access could not be given because 1) It would "prejudice Council's capacity to conduct frank and candid discussions". In other words to meet in secret as a legislature under the so-called "space to think" (under Article 4.3 of the Regulation on acces to documents) see: The case for the repeal of Article 4.3 2) The Council then claims that there was an "absence of any element suggesting an overriding public interest" in dislcosure - it is hard to think of an issue on which the public's right to know what is being discussed manifestly outweighs the need for secrecy. 3) The Council concludes by saying that access may to given "after the the final adoption of the act" - subject still to Article 4.3 para 2.

Tony Bunyan, Statewatch Director, comments:

"The notion that the wish of a legislature to meet in secret (by failing to release the documents being discussed) outweighs the public interest of the citizens on such a fundamental issue, namely the right to know what is being discussed and proposed in a legislative process in order to know and allow for public debate, has no place in a democracy worthy of the name."

 EU: ACCESS TO EU DOCUMENTS: Presidency criticised: Even worse than the commission: The Danish EU-presidency has failed to unite member states on new access rules for the EU-institutions. Sweden, Finland and possibly others will refuse to back a mandate to negotiate a new regulation (Wobbing.eu,link): "Its no secrecy that member states have different opinions on access rules. But now the split comes out in the open. Swedish minister of justice Beatrice Ask (conservative) has instructed the Swedish EU-ambassador not to endorse a negotiating mandate proposed by the Danish presidency. 

Minister Ask explains why in a comment to this website: ”If the mandate would give space for improved openness I would be the first to vote yes, but I believe that would be wishful thinking as things stand right now. The mandate will pull in the opposite direction, and there is even a risk that it is worse than the Commission's proposal from 2008.”

It is understood that the main issues for the Council of the European Union are:

- Definition of a document. A new article defining when a document is finalized and thus accessible has been added. The article says a document is included ”when finalized for the purpose it was intended.” - this is the same as the Commission's proposal to replace the definition of a "document" in place since 1993.

- Whole categories of documents are to be kept outside the scope - documents on infringement procedures (member states accused of breaking EU-law), on competition (cartels, mergers and state-aid cases) and documents related to court proceedings.

- Advice from legal services on disputed matters are also to be kept outside the scope – an exemption judged by the Court of Justice to be unfounded according to the present regulation.

- Data protection likely to overrule the right to access.

- Veto for Member States on release of documents sent to the institutions

See Statewatch's Observatory: Regulation on access to EU documents: 2008-ongoing

 EU: Visits campaign : Obstacles to the right to know: Migrant Camps in Europe : Open the doors ! We the right to know !(link):

"The reality of administrative detention of foreigners, a familiar instrument of European migration policies, is hidden from civil society and to the media. Such secrecy makes abuses and attacks on human rights both more likely and harder to combat [1]. European citizens have the right to know the consequences of the policies which are put in place in their names."

 EU-EAW: Council of the European Union: Replies to questionnaire on quantitative information on the practical operation of the European arrest warrant – Year 2011 (pdf). A strange report for the use of EAWs in 2011 which shows that only 5 out of 27 Member States have responded to the annual report. It shows that these five Member Sates have issued over 3,000 EAWs with Germany responsible for 70%.

 EU: Amnesty International and European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) Letter on behalf on 166 NGOs:Appeal to EU institutions: Ensure respect for asylum-seekers' right to liberty in recast reception conditions Directive and Dublin Regulation(pdf) and Not crossing red line: A negotiators' checklist on minimum detention safeguards (pdf)

 EU-ECJ: SCHENGEN BORDERS CODE: ECJ General Advocate’s opinion on sea surveillance and the Schengen Borders Code: reasserting the Parliament’s legislative role, re-opening the Frontex debate? (pdf):

"The European Court of Justice’s General Advocate Paulo Mengozzi on 17 April 2012 recommended that the Council’s decision amending the Schengen Borders Code (SBC) for it to cover and regulate EU’s surveillance at sea external borders should be annulled.

In July 2010, the European Parliament had lodged an action for annulment before the European Court of Justice against Council Decision 2010/252 supplementing the Schengen Borders Code. It was argued that the Decision was illegal because the followed procedure to adopt it (comitology procedure) was not appropriate given the impact the contested decision had on the SBC and on Frontex Regulation."

 EU: Updated: Statewatch European Monitoring and Documentation Centre (SEMDOC) Justice and Home Affairs "e-library" archive (1976 - 2000): Weekly Highlighted documents: Update including:

- 9299/1/98 REV 1 - External frontier strategy - Guide for the application of risk analysis in combating smuggling in the field of general aviation under the 3rd pillar
- 13269/98 ADD 1 - Comprehensive Action Plan for EU/Latin America Counter-Drugs Assistance, including interregional Cooperation with the Caribbean: Annexes: An extensive annex to document 13269/98 outlining the actions taken by the EU in Latin American and the Caribbean in an attempt to disrupt the production of drugs.Includes details on Member States involved, duration, and funding. See also 13269/2/98 REV 2 and 13269/3/98 REV 3.
- 13310/98 - CIREFI Statistics for the second quarter of 1998: A 132-page document providing statistics from a wide number of Member States on "refused aliens"; "aliens illegally present"; "aliens who entered illegally"; "facilitators apprehended"; "facilitated aliens"; "removed aliens"
- 14436/98 - System of reference codes precisely defining the signs of falsification revealed during the examination of false documents: A document demonstrating the way in which false documents were/are analysed and categorised.
- 5045/99 - Electronic surveillance and video surveillance - Summary of replies to questionnaire 11073/97 ENFOPOL 194: "New technologies provide the public with additional security tools, whether used privately or by the police. As a follow-up to the Noordwijk seminar on crime prevention (Netherlands, 11 to 14 May 1998), the French delegation proposed that the Police Cooperation Working Party launch a debate on video and electronic surveillance, on the basis of a survey of legislation and practice in the Member States of the EU. Fourteen Member States replied to the questionnaire"
- 14330/98 - Transparency: list of topics on which there could be open debates at meetings of the Council: The Presidency offers a rather limited list of topics on which the Council "could" have open debates in the name of transparency.

Search JHA archive - EU Justice and Home Affairs documents from 1976-2000: (currently holds 5,846 documents)

 European Parliament: Updated: Draft Report on alleged transportation and illegal detention of prisoners in European countries by the CIA: follow-up of the European Parliament TDIP Committee report (pdf). Being presented in the LIBE Committee 8 May, deadline for amendments: 24 May.

 EUROPOL: LEGAL BASIS: Commission note on meeting with the LIBE Committee in the European Parliament: Summary report of discussions between the Directorate General for Home Affairs, with representatives of national parliaments and of the LIBE Committee on the revision of Europol legal basis (pdf) and see also: Commission document: Revision of Europol's legal basis (pdf)

 ECCHR-UN: European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights: ECCHR succeed in removing client from the UN Security Council 1267 Al-Qaida blacklist (pdf):

"Berlin, 8 May 2012 - The United Nations Security Council 1267 Sanctions Committee yesterday formally announced the removal of one of ECCHR’s clients (Mr Kamel Darraji) from the Al-Qaida terrorism blacklist. He had been kept on the list (at the request of the Italian and US governments) for almost eight years, on the basis that he was allegedly “associated with” an Italian Al-Qaida terrorist cell – an allegation that Mr Darraji has consistently denied."

 EU-ACTA: European Parliament: LIBE Committee: Draft Opinion: on the compatibility of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, Australia, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United Mexican States, the Kingdom of Morocco, New Zealand, the Republic of Singapore, the Swiss Confederation and the United States of America with the rights enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (pdf)

 EU-ACTA: European Commission written response on ACTA (pdf) to the Opinion of the European Data Protection Supervisor:European Data Protection Supervisor Opinion on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA, pdf) Press release: ACTA measures to enforce IP rights in the digital environment could threaten privacy and data protection if not properly implemented (link)

 European Parliament: Orientation Vote Result on the proposal to amend Regulation (EC) No 562/2006 in order to provide for common rules on temporary reintroduction of border control at internal borders in exceptional circumstances (pdf). "Orientation" is the adoption of the parliament's negotiating position with the Council in trilogues.


April 2012

EU: YET ANOTHER DAY DAY FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES: MEPs back plans to give air passenger data to US (BBC News, link)."The European Parliament has adopted a controversial bill that will give the United States access to personal information about airline passengers. MEPs agreed by 409 votes to 226 to let the US Department of Homeland Security see data on the Passenger Name Record (PNR)" The two major parties blocs - PPE (conservative group) and S&D (socialist group) were committed to voting in favour.

See Statewatch's Observatory: Exchange of data on passengers (PNR) with USA

EU-SWITZERLAND: Swiss re-impose immigration limits on some EU states - The Swiss government has decided to re-impose immigration quotas on workers from central and eastern European Union (EU) countries. (BBC News, link). See also:Statement by High Representative Catherine Ashton on the decision of the Swiss Government to re-establish quantitative limitations for certain categories of residence permits as regards EU citizens who are nationals of eight of the EU Member States (pdf)

 EU: Statewatch Analysis: Amending the EU’s Borders Code (pdf) by Steve Peers, Professor of Law, Law School, University of Essex:

"The Borders Code has already been amended on four occasions... However, the 2011 proposals would have a much bigger impact on the text of the Code. Between them, these proposals would amend nearly every provision of the Code, and add a number of new provisions."

 EU-G6: FOR THE RECORD: G6 meeting, Paris, 1 December 2011 (pdf): The secretive G6, working on justice and home affairs, is comprised of France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland and the UK - it is usually also attended by the USA Department of Homeland Security. The meeting discussed Schengen governance, asylum and itinerant (mobile) criminality and, including the US representatives, focused on the recovery of criminal assets and Transatlantic data sharing.

 EU-EDPS: EDPS calls for data protection safeguards before public sector information containing personal data can be re-used (Press release, pdf), Opinion (pdf) and Public access to documents containing personal data after the Bavarian Lager ruling(pdf)

Peter Hustinx, EDPS, says: "The re-use of PSI containing personal data may bring significant benefits, but also entails great risks to the protection of personal data, due to the wide variety of data held by public sector bodies. The Commission proposal should therefore more clearly define in what situations and subject to what safeguards information containing personal data may be required to be made available for re-use."

 EU: Statewatch Analysis: Amending the EU’s visa list legislation (pdf) by Steve Peers, Professor of Law, University of Essex:

"Quite apart from the usual lack of transparency of EU documents (the texts submitted to Coreper have not officially been made public, although they are available on the Statewatch website - see the links below), the negotiation process is highly obscure, as it is not currently clear whether Coreper even reached an agreement on the proposed measures, and if so what text was agreed....

the version of the proposed legislation discussed in Coreper clearly shows the Member States’ intention to assert the EU’s authority more forcefully as regards visa policy by the creation of two new fast-track powers to impose visa obligations, but also to retain a lot of political discretion when using such powers. Although these new powers would be conferred upon the Commission, Member States have tried as much as possible to assert their control over its actions, and they have rejected any attempt to remove their remaining discretion as regards visa policy for various categories of persons."

 EU: European Court of Justice: Advocate General's Opinion: European Parliament v Council of the European Union (Action for annulment – Decision 2010/252 – Implementing powers – Limits – Regulation No 562/2006 – Schengen Borders Code – Border surveillance) (pdf). Advocate-General's opinion backs EP challenge to Council's decision implementing borders code re Frontex.

 EU authorities accused of blindness on 'counter-jihad' (euobserver, link): "Security services in Europe have neglected the kind of right-wing extremism which inspired Norway's Anders Behring Breivik to commit mass murder, a UK-based rights group has warned. "Post-911, all major authorities have themselves in the EU focused on the direct threat of Islamic terrorism while they took their eye off the ball on the radicalisation of Europeans," Daniel Hodges, a campaigner for Hope Not Hate, a London-based NGO, told EUobserver on Monday (16 April).

 EU: FRONTEX: Statewatch Analysis: The Frontex Regulation - Consolidated text after final 2011 amendments (pdf) by Steve Peers
Professor of Law, University of Essex:

"The following presents the Regulation setting up the EU Borders Agency - ‘Frontex’ - as it was amended by a number of amendments adopted in 2011: Regulation 1168/2011, OJ 2011 L 304/1 (the ‘2011 amendments’). It replaces the consolidated text of the Regulation based on the agreed text of the 2011 amendments, which were subject to a number of technical changes when they were finally adopted."

 EU: Dissolve secret agencies and police – Anarchy in the EU! (link)

 EU: Updated: Statewatch European Monitoring and Documentation Centre (SEMDOC) Justice and Home Affairs "e-library" archive (1976 - 2000): Weekly Highlighted documents: Update including:

- 8680/00: Summary update of the existing analyses of information on border control, asylum, immigration and police in Romania
- 9334/00 - Proposal on responsibility for stowaways
- 9559/1/00 - Football hooliganism - Annual report on football hooliganism in the Member States of the European Union: Synthesises information from fourteen countries to provide an overview of football hooliganism and police cooperation measures intended to cope with the problem
- Draft conclusions of the Executive Committee's meeting held in S-Gravenhage on 21 February 1996: (Document in French) Following a request from Spain for Schengen Member States to cooperate more closely on terrorism issues, the EU Presidency brings forward a proposal for improved extradition mechanisms between Member States
- The SCHENGEN ACQUIS 1990 - 1995 and 13-page list of all conventions, decisions and measures adopted between 1990 and 1995
- 11358/00 - Advanced technologies: production of a directory of the prefixes and roaming agreements of mobile phone operators in the fifteen countries of the European Union - Questionnaire
-12086/00 - Conclusions of the seminar on the laundering of the proceeds from organised crime in Europe (Paris, 13 to 15 September 2000)

Search JHA archive - EU Justice and Home Affairs documents from 1976 onwards: (currently holds 5,600 documents)

 EU: European Parliament, Subcommittee on Human Rights Public Hearing on Secret rendition and detention practices - How to protect Human Rights while countering terrorism? 12 April 2012: Mr. Juan E. Méndez, United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (pdf)

 EU: Joint NGO statement: The Brighton Declaration must strengthen human rights protection in Europe and preserve the integrity and authority of the European Court of Human Rights (pdf)

 EU: ACTA: European Parliament: Draft Recommendation (pdf): Committee on International Trade, Rapporteur David Martin MEP. See aso: EU Parliament’s draftsman urges ACTA rejection (euractiv, link)

 EU: European Parliament study: EU Framework of Law for Children’s Rights (49 pages, pdf)

 EU: Statewatch Analysis: The revised ‘Dublin’ rules on responsibility for asylum-seekers: The Council’s failure to fix a broken system (pdf) by Steve Peers, Professor of Law, Law School, University of Essex:

"The Council appears to have little regard for the case law of the European Court of Human Rights or the EU’s Court of Justice, as regards the issue of suspending transfers in light of justified human rights concerns. Moreover, the Council clearly wishes to ‘jump the gun’ on a number of other issues pending before the Court of Justice as regards the Dublin rules (the humanitarian clause, the rules on unaccompanied minors, and the application of the reception conditions Directive to Dublin cases)....

the Council has not accepted either of the two remedies which the Commission had proposed to fix the Dublin system – the suspension of that system or the significant improvement of the rules relating to family members and vulnerable persons. It remains to be seen whether the EP is willing to recognise that the Dublin system is broken, and to demand that more serious steps be taken to fix it."

 EU: Council of the European Union:

- Draft Council Conclusions on further enhancing efficient cross-border exchange of law enforcement information (DAPIX, 5929/2/12, pdf)
- Draft Council conclusions on the establishment of a European Cybercrime Centre (ENFOPOL, 8295/12,pdf)
- Amended proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection status (ASILE, 8591/12, pdf)

 ECHR-PUBLIC ORDER-TEAR GAS: European Court of Human Rights: Police should not have used tear gas against a peaceful demonstrator (Press release, pdf) and Judgment (pdf). See also: Man gets €10,000 as tear gas victim (Athens News, link)

 EU: Death of 63 migrants in the Mediterranean: Complaint in France holds the French military to account (FIDH, link)

 EU: NGOs give EU commission a beating over anti-counterfeit pact (euobserver, link): " Amnesty Intentional, Oxfam, Reporters without Borders as well as internet rights groups and the Council of Europe all spoke out against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (Acta) at a European Parliament hearing on Wednesday (11 April). "

 EU: Council of the European Union: Proposal for a Directive on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings and on the right to communicate upon arrest - Preparation of Coreper (pdf) Revised Council position.

 GREECE: Greece taking a leaf out of the UK’s manual on indefinite detention (link) "The Greek government appears to have taken a leaf out of the UK government’s book and decided to hold migrants in detention centres indefinitely. The new plans which have already raised significant criticism by campaigners centre on opening 30 former military sites and detaining 1000 people in each."

 UK: Home Affairs Select Committee report: Work of the UK Border Agency (August - December 2011) (pdf) See: UK Border Agency unable to fulfil its basic functions, MPs warn (Guardian, link)

 UK: Home Affairs Select Committee report: The US-UK Extradition Treaty (link)

 RE-POSTED: EU: AGENCIES: Council of the European Union: Evaluation of European Union agencies (pdf)

Background: Study for the Commission: Evaluation of the EU de-centralised agencies in 2009: Final Report Volume I (pdf) andVolume II (pdf), Volume III (pdf) and Volume IV (pdf)

 EU: Council of the European Union:

- SCHENGEN: Proposal for a Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 562/2006 in order to provide for common rules on the temporary reintroduction of border control at internal borders in exceptional circumstances - Revised draft compromise text(6161-rev1-12, pdf)

- SCHENGEN: Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 562/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a Community Code on the rules governing the movement of persons across borders (Schengen Borders Code) and the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement (8262-12, pdf)

- VISA LIST: Draft Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement (8218-12, pdf)


February 2012

CoE: Hammarberg publishes 47 country report on Roma and Travellers (link)

EU: FRONTEX: Israel Aerospace Industries' Heron Unmanned Aerial System was demonstrated to Frontex EU Agency (link)

EU: Article 29 Working Party on Data Protection: Working Document 01/2012 on epSOS (pdf): "EpSOS is a pilot that offers cross-border e-Health Services to European citizens. It focuses on developing a practical e-Health framework and ICT (information and communication technology) infrastructure that enables access to patient health information from different European healthcare systems."

EU: Meijers Committee: Standing committee of experts on international immigration, refugee and criminal law: Reply to the Green Paper on the right to family reunification of third-country nationals living in the European Union (pdf): "the Meijers Committee proposes not to revise Directive 2003/86/EC on the right to family reunification on short notice. Instead, it urges the Commission to closely supervise the implementation and application of the Directive in the Member States and to start infringement procedures in case of incomplete or incorrect implementation or application."

Call for the Defense of Society and Democracy in Greece,” which urges for a powerful intervention in Greek and European public opinion (link)

EU: Statewatch Analysis: The Revised Directive on Asylum-seekers’ Reception Conditions: How much lower can the Member States go? (pdf) by Steve Peers, Professor of Law, University of Essex:

"If the Council does accept this compromise, it will remain to be seen whether the European Parliament will consider it acceptable to have a ‘deal at any cost’, or whether it will take the opportunity to press for much needed improvements concerning issues such as access to benefits without documentation, detention conditions, grounds for and time limits for detention, legal aid, subsistence and health care, and vulnerable asylumseekers."

ITALY: Returning migrants to Libya without examining their case exposed them to a risk of ill-treatment and amounted to a collective expulsion (pdf) and Judgment: full-text (link) The European Court of Human Rights has found italy guilty of a series of violations in its collective refoulements of migrants to libya in 2009 - The case concerned Somalian and Eritrean migrants travelling from Libya who had been intercepted at sea by the Italian authorities and sent back to Libya. Press statement by Green/EFA Group in the European Parliament: Court ruling on odious Italy-Libya deal has clear implications for EU migration and border policies (link)

EU-USA PNR AGREEMENT: European Parliament: Draft report: Calls for the parliament to withhold its consent:

- DRAFT RECOMMENDATION: on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the Agreement between the United States of America and the European Union on the use and transfer of Passenger Name Records to the United States Department of Homeland Security Rapporteur: Sophia in 't Veld (pdf), Rapporteur: Sohie in `t Veld

See also Statewatch Observatory: Observatory on the exchange of data on passengers (PNR) with USA (2003 - ongoing)

EU-ACTA: ECJ to rule on anti-piracy agreement (european voice, link) and Commission seeks legal clarification on controversial anti-piracy treaty (euobserver, link). See: Commission statement on its referral of ACTA to the ECJ (pdf)

EU: Revising the Access to documents Regulation saga - The beginning of the endgame

- "Now is not the time to compromise on transparency" (Michael Cashman MEP)
- Danish Council Presidency invokes "the space to think"
- Council and Commission question the definition of a "document"
- Council seeks to restrict access to legislative documents
- "The outcome of the process which is now being embarked on will determine the future of democratic accountability on the EU"(Tony Bunyan, Statewatch Director)

CANADA: Taking Liberties: Canada’s Booming Business of Detention and Deportation (link)

Mediterranean takes record as most deadly stretch of water for refugees and migrants in 2011 (UNHCR, link)

NETHERLANDS-COE: Secretary General calls on Dutch government to respond to concerns about problematic website (pdf)

UK: Theresa May to split up UK Border Agency (BBC News, link): "Home Secretary Theresa May has said the UK Border Agency will be split in two following revelations that hundreds of thousands of people were let into the country without appropriate checks. She told MPs the UK Border Force would become a separate law-enforcement body.."

See: Home Office statement (pdf) and Vine report: An investigation into border security checks (pdf)

EU border agency Frontex will sign a Cooperation Agreement with the Armenian Government (Public Radio, link)

EU: MULTIPLE BIOMETRICS REQUIRED: HEAD OF EU LARGE-SCALE IT AGENCY: "We believe that in an ideal world, you have to take 13": (all ten fingers, both eyes and the face): EU official says identity management must be based on multiple biometrics (Fierce Government, link):

"Identity management in the European Union must be based on the collection of biometric information from individuals, said Frank Paul, head of unit for large scale IT systems and biometrics within the European Commission's directorate general of home affairs. We also believe that in an ideal world, you have to take 13," he added, referring to data collections of 10 fingerprints, two iris scans and one facial image. Paul spoke Feb. 1 during a panel of an identity management conference hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

ECRI reports: Europe’s hardening attitudes towards Muslims, migrants and Roma (link)

EU-USA: US lobbying waters down EU data protection reform (euractiv, link): "The reform of EU data protection rules is of particular interest to countries like the United States, whose companies may have to abide by stricter provisions to do business in Europe. But intense lobbying from the United States has in part watered down the draft legislation.

EU-USA:DATA PROTECTION AGREEMENT: PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF EU CITIZENS? Council of the European Union: EU-US data protection negotiations during 2011 (pdf):

"the US side has a mandate for an “Executive agreement” that does not change existing US law, nor create any new rights"

"The US has rejected the idea to apply the agreement also to data transferred from private parties in the EU to private parties in the US and subsequently processed for law enforcement purposes by US competent authorities."

"a non-discrimination clause, i.e. the application of data protection principles to all data subjects regardless of nationality and place of residence, was discussed. The US is cautious on this as it is linked to the personal scope of protection under the Privacy Act, which is limited to US citizens and permanent residents."

"The US side however acknowledged that no judicial redress is available to non-US individuals who seek correction of their data without having suffered harm. Further discussion is needed."

"data retention, the US side appears to oppose a general obligation enshrined in this agreement to define appropriate retention periods whenever data sharing is agreed (specific agreements, unilateral condition by sending authority), arguing that such limits should be determined by the recipient party's domestic law."

"On purpose limitation (and further use of data), the US envisages to specify the purpose of data processing and further use in the "umbrella" agreement itself and to conceive it widely. This would result that in principle all data could be used for prevention, detection, suppression, investigation or prosecution of criminal offences, protection of public security, for directly related non-criminal and administrative proceedings, or for any other purpose if prior consent is given by the sending authority."

See Statewatch's Observatory on: EU-USA general agreement on data protection and the exchange of personal data

EU: EUROPOL: No to computer-aided profiling and search from Europol! (pdf):

"“The Europol police agency analyses records using ‘data mining’ processes. The European Commission must prove that this does not constitute computer-aided profiling and search,” Cornelia Ernst, Member of the European Parliament, and Andrej Hunko, Member of the German Bundestag, said in a statement in reaction to the European Commission’s reply to their question on this subject."

EU: Council of the European Union: Draft Council Conclusions regarding the establishment of a procedure for the strengthening of political governance in the Schengen cooperation (pdf): "The Mixed Committee, made up of the EU Member States and the Schengen associated
States, should provide the necessary political guidance for the Schengen area." The "Mixed Committee" is comprised of the 27 EU states plus Norway, Switzerland and Iceland, its decisions are not made in public.

EU: European Parliament: Hungary should respect the EU's basic values, say MEPs (Press release, pdf):

"Parliament will draw up a report on whether EU laws and values are respected in Hungary, it decided on Thursday. Further to this report, it will then decide whether to activate EU Treaty Article 7, which is used to investigate a clear risk of a serious breach of EU common values. Its resolution also calls on the European Commission to monitor closely the changes to some of Hungary's laws and how it puts them into practice."

EU: Commission downplays Parliament EU-US data privacy concerns (euobserver, link)

UK: "Convergence" in London: No Borders conference, arrests of activists and collective deportation

The weekly No Borders "Convergence" at Goldsmiths College in London could not be more time-sensitive: a report on unsafe return from the UK to Congo has just been released, and a collective expulsion to Ghana was carried out on 15 February 2012. Some of the No Borders activists who were trying to stop the deportation have been arrested and await trial planned on 8th March 2012.

EU: THE FUTURE FOR DRIVING LICENCES? European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS): Merging professional drivers' driving licence with their driver card is not fully in line with data protection principles (Press release, pdf) and Full-text of EDPS Opinion(pdf):

"Giovanni Buttarelli, Assistant EDPS, states: "We seriously doubt about the necessity and the proportionality of such a measure, which has yet to be demonstrated. A consistent approach is needed from the legislator to ensure that the development of any measures concerning drivers’ data is done in full respect of data protection principles". "He further recommends to:

- evaluate the impact of the use of a microchip in the driving licences - ensure that the overall design of the processing is privacy friendly and proportionate to the purposes pursued - specify the data or categories of data to be stored in the microchip, in compliance with the principles of proportionality and data minimisation - provide sufficient guarantees for the effective exercise of data subjects' rights - ensure a strict limitation of access rights in view of the legitimate purposes for which relevant authorities and any other recipients would need to access the data."


November 2011

 EU: REGULATION ON PUBLIC ACCESS TO EU DOCUMENTS: European Parliament: Revised: Report on the proposal for a regulation regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (recast) (23.11.11, pdf). The report was adopted by the Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) by 33 votes in favour, 17 against and 2 abstentions - the rightwing PPE group voted against. It will be considered at a plenary session in December 2011. This replaces the report of: 12 May 2010: Draft EP report(Rapporteur: Michael Cashman MEP)


 EU: DATA PROTECTION: Round Table on Information and Communication Technologies - PART 3 15/11/11 Bureau of European Policy Advisers: Speech of Peter Hustinx, European Data Protection Supervisor, on the revision of the EU: Data Protection Directive (starts 1 min 38 sec in, link)

 EU: Migreurop: A critical Chronology of European migration policies (pdf) produced by Alain Morice (CNRS-Université Paris-Diderot), Migreurop member. This chronology seeks to make it easier to understand European migration and asylum policies through a time-framed comparison of the evolution of the legal framework (columns A1 to A3), the public discourse (B1) and the facts (B2). The table is updated twice a year.

The aim is to picture the way in which the EU policy of closing the borders, apart from the sequence of tragedies that it causes, leads to human rights violations and to absurd situations that are sometimes impossible to manage by the very people who implement them, in an escalation whose effects sometimes appear to escape the grasp of its protagonists, and bargaining among states in which migrants, refugees and displaced people represent a form of exchange currency.

The prospects of this process are the unfair detention, repression and wandering of a growing number of would-be migrants. The chronology suggests that, should this trend continue to prevail in the future, we are heading towards a system enforcing the assignment of compulsory places of residence for third-country nationals, that is, a new version of apartheid on a worldwide scale in which camps will be in charge of keeping at a distance populations that have been rejected on both sides.

Text in French (Link), Spanish (link) and Italian (link)

 GERMANY: UN Committee concerned at failure to investigate rendition and secret detention and the rendition of Khaled El-Masri:Committee against Torture: fifth periodic report of Germany: concluding observations (pdf)

On 25 November, the UN Committee against Torture issued its concluding observations on the compliance of Germany with the international obligations under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The Committee expressed concern at the lack of implementation of the recommendations of the 2009 Parliamentary Inquiry on extraordinary renditions and secret detention complicity. The Committee also expressed at the failure to investigate and provide a remedy for the rendition of Khaled El-Masri.

See also: Denmark: Review of US rendition flights over Greenland “toothless (AI, press statement, link) and Finland must further investigate USA rendition flights (AI statement, link)

 EU: Another EU database for migrants: the European Criminal Records Information System on Third-Country Nationals 

With the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) due to come into operation as of April 2012, the European Commission are now developing the latest in a long list of EU-wide information systems and databases - a European Criminal Records System for Third Country Nationals (ECRIS-TCN). This will be a common European index containing the criminal record information of third-country nationals resident in the EU. As the name suggests, the ECRIS-TCN is essentially an addition to the ECRIS (although information is only exchanged via the ECRIS on EU nationals). It also differs in that it will rely upon a centralised index, rather than the connection of decentralised national registers.

 EU: DATA PROTECTION: EU backs down on 'right to be forgotten' online (euobserver, link) and see: Cloud adoption hampered by cow data protection? (euractiv, link). Tony Bunyan, Statewatch Director comments: "The argument that national laws stop the free movement of personal data suggest that this is an EU principle like the freedom of movement. It is a so-called "principle" invented to meet the demands of state agencies and multi-nationals."

The Moroccan and Spanish law enforcement agencies are complicit in the violence against migrants 

- Allegations that they are endangering security and life in the vicinity of Ceuta
- Statement by GADEM [Groupe antiraciste d'accompagnement et de défence des étrangers et migrants] 25/11/2011

 UK: Asylum Aid-UNHCR: Mapping statelessness in the UK (Executive Summary, pdf) and Full-report (pdf)

 Statewatch Analysis: The Arab Spring of “Security made in Germany" (pdf) by Eric Töpfer:

Investigative journalists have revealed a secret mission by the German Federal Police to train border guards in Saudi Arabia. The episode sheds light on the much broader engagement of the German security-industrial complex in arming authoritarian monarchies in the Gulf region.

 German police clear huge sit-in at nuclear protest - German police cleared a sit-in of thousands of protesters attempting to block a shipment of nuclear waste and detained 1,300 people on Sunday, officials said (Daily Telegraph, link) See also:Statewatch Analysis
Policing popular mass protests: The transport of nuclear waste at Goelben, Germany (pdf)

 Statewatch Analysis: Criticism of UK Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures mounts as government retains power to forcibly relocate suspects (pdf) by Max Rowlands:

In another U-turn on civil liberties, the government is introducing emergency legislation that will allow it to impose on terrorist suspects many of the draconian restrictions they had promised to do away with.

 EU-USA: Readout of Secretary Napolitano’s Participation in the US-EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministerial Meeting(Press release, pdf)

 EU-USA PNR DEAL: Commission proposal for a: Council Decision on the signature of the Agreement between the United States of America and the European Union on the use and transfer of Passenger Name Records to the United States Department of Homeland Security (COM 805, pdf). See: Revised EU-US agreement on PNR data still protects only travel companies, not travellers (Identity Project, link)

 EU: Council of the European Union: Qualifications Directive and European Protection Order

- Directive on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection, and for the content of the protection granted (recast) (pdf). Ready for adoption.

- Position of the Council at first reading with a view to the adoption of a Directive on the European protection order (pdf) Ready for adoption.

- As above Draft Statement of the Council's reasons (pdf)

 EU: FRONTEX: Code of conduct for all persons participating in Frontex activities (pdf). Note Article 20 deals with the carrying of weapons.

 EU-ECJ: Court judgment on Sison case: EU judgment - no compensation for unlawful anti-terrorist sanctions: Full-text of judgment (pdf)

 EU-ECJ: EU law precludes the imposition of an injunction by a national court which requires an internet service provider to install a filtering system with a view to preventing the illegal downloading of files (Press release, pdf) and Full-text of Opinion (pdf)

 EU-ECJ: DATA PROTECTION: Judgment (pdf):

"Article 7(f) of Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data must be interpreted as precluding national rules which, in the absence of the data subject’s consent, and in order to allow such processing of that data subject’s personal data as is necessary to pursue a legitimate interest of the data controller or of the third party or parties to whom those data are disclosed, require not only that the fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject be respected, but also that the data should appear in public sources, thereby excluding, in a categorical and generalised way, any processing of data not appearing in such sources."[emphasis added]

 NETHERLANDS: Dutch parliament refuses ACTA secrecy (ACTA Blog, link)

 UK: Drones to patrol the skies above Olympic Stadium (Independent, link). See also: UK to spend half a billion on lethal drones by 2015 (Bureau of Investigative Journalism) and Ten years since first deadly drone strike, industry gathers in London(Bureau of Investigative Journalism)

 France: Criticism of the law on immigration, integration and nationality of 16 July 2011

Cimade, a French migrant support organisation, has produced a critical analysis of the new immigration law entitled "law on immigration, integration and nationality" approved on 16 July 2011, which highlights that its key objectives are "surveillance, detention, expulsion and banning". Its three driving purposes are identified as:

- developing the mechanisms for the detention and surveillance of foreigners
- considerably reducing procedural guarantees to enable the removal of "unwanted" foreigners in contempt for their human rights and freedoms
- banning people from French territory following expulsion, applicable to everyone who is expelled and very difficult to act against.

 France: Racial profiling and anti-poor byelaws: the French Human Rights League successfully challenges an anti-begging byelaw (link) Anti-begging byelaws are increasingly being adopted by French municipalities. Human rights associations have been quick to denounce the resulting stigmatisation of some social classes and minority groups.

 EU: Council of the European Union: Dublin II early warning system, visa lists, European Investigation Order:

- Proposal for a Regulation 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 (recast) - A process for early warning, preparedness and management of asylum crises (pdf)

- Proposal for a Directive on conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals in the framework of an intra-corporate transfer (pdf)

- Outcomes: Draft Regulation amending Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement(pdf)

- Presidency proposals on above (pdf) Note there are still over 40 Member State reservations.

- Initiative of Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Spain, Austria, Slovenia and Sweden for a Directive regarding the European Investigation Order in criminal matters - Follow-up document of the meeting of the "Working Party on cooperation in criminal matters" on 14 November 2011 (23 pages, pdf).

 EU: European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS): EDPS calls for strengthening of proposed Regulation on the Internal Market Information System (Press release, pdf) and Opinion (pdf):

"IMI is an online application that allows national, regional and local authorities in European Union Member States to communicate quickly and easily with their counterparts in other European countries.... The EDPS calls attention to two key challenges: the need to ensure consistency in the legal framework, while respecting diversity, and the need to balance flexibility and legal certainty. ... The Opinion also calls for further strengthening of data subjects´ rights and for
reconsideration of the extension of the currently applicable 6-months retention period unless adequate justifications are provided."

 EU-ECHR ACCESSION: Council of the European Union: Friends of Presidency (FREMP) Accession of the EU to the ECHR: Working Document from the Presidency (DS 1675-11, pdf)