US embassy cable - 04BRUSSELS1450

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 001450 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DHS FOR IAO, BORDER PATROL 
FOR IAO, BORDER PATROL 
DOJ FOR CRM 
ROME ALSO FOR INS 
 
E.O. 12958:    N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PTER, PREF, CASC, KCRM, EUN, USEU BRUSSELS 
SUBJECT: COUNTER-TERRORISM/LAW ENFORCEMENT: EU 
BEGINS WORK ON AIRLINE PASSENGER DATA SYSTEM 
 
REF: (A) USEU BRUSSELS 1338; 
 
     (B) USEU BRUSSELS 743 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1.  The EU Council of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) 
Ministers on March 30 displayed a new momentum to 
meet its obligations to deal with the Declaration by 
EU leaders on combating terrorism as well as its own 
rolling agenda.  The ministers agreed on a "general 
approach" (no formal agreement yet) on a Directive 
aimed at improving border controls and combating 
illegal immigration by the transmission of advance 
passenger data by air carriers to border 
authorities.  They did the same (pending scrutiny by 
national parliaments) for a Directive to ensure fair 
and appropriate compensation to victims of a crime, 
including a terrorist attack, suffered in a Member 
State other than their own.  Newly appointed CT 
Coordinator de Vries said his role would be to 
assist Member States to deliver on their 
commitments.  Full text of the JHA Conclusions has 
been transmitted to EUR/ERA and Embassy Dublin. 
Migration issues covered septel.  END SUMMARY. 
 
EUROPEAN COUNCIL DECLARATION ON TERRORISM: FOLLOW-UP 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
2.  With newly appointed CT Coordinator Gijs de 
Vries in attendance, the Council discussed the 
follow-up to the Declaration on Combating Terrorism 
adopted by the European Council on March 25 (REF A). 
Following a separate bilateral meeting with Council 
Secretary-General/HighRep Solana, de Vries told 
 
SIPDIS 
reporters his role would be "to assist Member States 
in doing the things they have said they would do, 
i.e. to deliver on commitments."  De Vries made it 
clear he was "not in the business of creating a new 
institution or a new bureaucracy."  Irish Justice 
Minister/Council chair Mc Dowell reported a "great 
sense of confidence" in de Vries, whom he presented 
as "a man of huge experience and intelligence 
capacity, who is only interested in the outcome and 
not in Empire-building." 
 
OBLIGATION OF CARRIERS TO COMMUNICATE PASSENGER DATA 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
3.  Meeting in a Mixed Committee with Iceland and 
Norway in the context of the Schengen arrangements, 
EU JHA ministers reached a "common approach" (not a 
formal agreement yet) on a draft Directive aimed at 
improving border controls and combating illegal 
immigration by the transmission of advance passenger 
data by air carriers to border authorities.  The 
draft lays down obligations for carriers 
transporting non-EU nationals into the territory of 
the Member States.  In order to ensure greater 
effectiveness of this objective, it provides for 
financial penalties when carriers fail to meet their 
obligations.  Minister Mc Dowell noted that the 
importance of sharing passenger data was underlined 
by last week's European Council Declaration on 
Combating Terrorism.  The Declaration tasked the 
Commission to bring forward a proposal, no later 
than June 2004, for a common EU approach to the use 
of passenger data for border and aviation security 
and other law enforcement purposes.  Mc Dowell said 
the Directive would be reviewed in light of the 
Commission's proposal. 
 
4.  Mc Dowell commented that the Madrid bombings had 
triggered a "more mature judgment" by EU governments 
on access to personal data, adding: "Post-Madrid, 
the European Parliament may have a rethink about 
whether privacy is such an absolute right.  I don't 
think the people of Europe would forgive us if 
information that could prevent such an atrocity were 
contained in files or records and could simply not 
be accessed by the people who could prevent such 
atrocities."  UK Home Office Minister for Organized 
crime reduction and European issues Caroline Flint 
said:  "It is right we make the most of information 
collected at our borders by making available to 
immigration authorities and law enforcement agencies 
across the EU.  We should maximize our use of 
information, including from the proposed new range 
of biometric visas and passports, to ensure that 
legitimate passengers can move freely, while 
safeguarding our borders, not only against illegal 
immigration, but against serious and organized crime 
and terrorism." 
 
COMPENSATION TO CRIME VICTIMS 
----------------------------- 
 
5.  Mc Dowell also announced a consensus on a 
Council Directive on compensation to crime victims, 
for the adoption of which the March 25-26 European 
Council set a May 1, 2004 deadline.  The proposal is 
part of the EU's response to 9/11 and the Madrid 
attacks and ensures that victims of crime (including 
terrorist attacks) receive "adequate compensation 
regardless of where within the EU such acts take 
place," according to the Council conclusions.  The 
deal, which is based on a Presidency compromise 
intended to prevent a deadlock on the issue of the 
legal basis for the Directive, remains subject to 
scrutiny by parliaments in the UK and Germany. 
However, Mc Dowell was hopeful for a formal 
agreement at the April 29-30 JHA Council.  He said 
the Directive would contain rules on access to 
compensation in cross-border cases that will help 
victims claim compensation as a result of a crime 
suffered in a member state other than their own. 
All Member States will also have to ensure that 
their national rules provide, by July 1, 2005, for 
the existence of a scheme guaranteeing fair and 
appropriate compensation for victims. 
 
MUTUAL RECOGNITION OF CONFISCATION ORDERS 
----------------------------------------- 
 
6.  Mc Dowell reported "significant progress" but no 
complete agreement yet on a draft piece of 
legislation intended to facilitate cooperation 
between Member States as regards the recognition and 
execution of orders to confiscate the proceeds of 
crime (REF.B).  By means of the Framework Decision, 
a Member State will have to recognize and execute in 
its territory confiscation orders issued by judicial 
authorities of another Member State.   Discussions 
in the Council focused on the grounds for non- 
recognition or non-execution of a confiscation 
order.  According to the draft text, the executing 
state may refuse the recognition/execution 
confiscation order when the offences have been 
committed wholly or partly within the territory of 
the executing state.  A number of delegations and 
the Commission think this provision should be 
limited in order to avoid the risk that criminals go 
unpunished as a consequence of its application.  Mc 
Dowell was confident that the Council will be able 
to meet the June 2004 target set by the March 25 
European Council Declaration for adoption of this 
draft. 
 
APPOINTMENT OF EUROPOL DIRECTOR 
------------------------------- 
 
7.  The term of office of the current (German) 
Director of Europol expires on June 30, 2004.  EU 
sources said the incumbent wishes to continue but 
Italy and France have put forward their own 
candidates.  Ministers held an initial inconclusive 
discussion over lunch. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
8.  As highlighted by the Ministers' comments, we 
see the EU's passenger data initiative as helpful in 
terms of potentially re-enforcing our arguments 
about the value of this kind of passenger name 
record data.  More generally, the new momentum 
displayed at the March 30 JHA Council owes much to 
the post-Madrid atmosphere of "seriousness" observed 
in EU corridors, but is also due to the fact that 
ministers are coming up against deadlines for the 
adoption of a series of measures.  The Irish 
Presidency and Coordinator de Vries must now use the 
timeframe created in the Declaration on Combating 
Terrorism to impose a new sense of urgency on the EU 
governments. 
 
FOSTER