e-mail: office@statewatch.org
1. EU: ECJ: Judgment: France’s appeal against the judgment of the General Court removing the PMOI the EU
2. UK: POLICE OFFICER ON JURY: ECHR: Police officer’s presence on jury made trial unfair
3. EU: EURO CRISIS: Statewatch Analysis: Draft Agreement on Reinforced Economic Union (REU Treaty) by Steve Peers
4. UK: AUGUST RIOTS: Policing Large Scale Disorder: Lessons from the disturbances of August 2011
5. UK: AUGUST RIOTS: HMIC report: The rules of engagement A review of the August 2011 disorders
6. HUNGARY: Access to protection jeopardised: Information note on the treatment of Dublin returnees in Hungary
7. EU: BEHAVIOURAL ADS: Article 29 Working Party on data protection
8. FRANCE-LIBYA: French firm Amesys, criticised for selling to Gaddafi’s Libya
9. EU: Meijers Committee: Proposal to introduce a safeguard clause to suspend visa liberalisation
10. EU: REGULATION ON ACCESS TO EU DOCUMENTS: European Parliament: Report
11. EU: COUNTER-TERRORISM: EP: EU counter-terrorism policy needs full assessment
12. EU: TERRORISM: RESTRICTIVE MEASURES: European Data Protection Supervisor
13. EU: COUNTER-TERRORISM: Council of the European Union
14. EU-USA-PNR AGREEMENT: Analysis
15. UK: Home Office: Operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000
16. EU: Council of the European Union: Justice and Home Affairs Council
17. EU: Council: Common procedures for international protection, Reception of asylum-seekers, Visa safeguards
18. FRANCE: The Anafé brought to court by the Ministry of Interior: Hearing
19. EU-SCHENGEN: Council of the European Union: Schengen: Liechtenstein to become 26th member state
20. HISTORICAL STATEWATCH PUBLICATION: On Globalisation of Control: Towards an Integrated Surveillance System in Europe
21. UK: Cordon designed for chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear incidents deployed by Metropolitan Police at protest
22. EU-USA PNR: European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS)
23. EU-USA PNR: Council of the European Union: Council gives green light for the new EU-US agreement
24. EU: European Commission: Digital Agenda: Turning government data into gold
25. EU: European Parliament: Study: “Climate Refugees”: Legal and policy responses to environmentally induced migration
26. IN THE NEWS
1. EU: European Court of Justice: Judgment: The Court dismisses France’s appeal against the judgment of the General Court removing the PMOI the EU list of terrorist organisations (Press release): “The General Court rightly decided that the Council had breached the PMOI’s rights of defence by failing to notify it of the grounds for its inclusion in the list before the decision was adopted.”:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/ecj-pmoi-appeal-dismissed.pdf
2. UK: POLICE OFFICER ON JURY: European Court of Human Rights: Police officer’s presence on jury made trial unfair: “The case concerned the applicants’ complaint that the presence of a police officer on the jury, which convicted them of drugs offences, violated their right to a fair hearing.”:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/uk-echr-khan-prel.pdf
and Judgment – full-text (pdf): http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/uk-echr-khan.pdf
3. EU: EURO CRISIS: Statewatch Analysis: Draft Agreement on Reinforced Economic Union (REU Treaty) by Steve Peers, Professor of Law, University of Essex:
http://www.statewatch.org/analyses/no-164-reu-treaty.pdf
“The issue of the legality of any use of the EU institutions… has been avoided by the Treaty drafters. Legally it does not add very much to the obligations which are already present in EU law…Put another way, the EU has already done enough (and arguably more than enough)… to address the fiscal discipline of its eurozone States
there is clear evidence that austerity policies (both inside and outside the eurozone) usually fail in their own terms (leaving aside their social cost), by reducing economic growth and therefore increasing government debt and deficit further.
the EU’s economic governance rules fail the test of transparency, because of their near-total complexity and unreadability, scattered across a dozen primary, secondary and soft-law sources, with more to come… the basic rules on the EU’s coordination and control of fundamental national economic decisions are essentially unintelligible.”
4. UK: AUGUST RIOTS: House of Commons, Home Affairs Select Committee: Policing Large Scale Disorder: Lessons from the disturbances of August 2011:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/uk-hasc-public-order-august-riotsreprot.pdf
See also: Police ‘need riot tactic rules’, watchdog says (BBC News, link)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/20/riots-review-recommends-police-change-tactics/print
5. UK: AUGUST RIOTS: Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary: The rules of engagement A review of the August 2011 disorders (123 pages):
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/uk-hmic-review-august-2011-riots.pdf
See also: Riot report says police should consider using plastic bullets and water cannon (Guardian, link)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/dec/20/riots-review-recommends-police-change-tactics/print
6. HUNGARY: Access to protection jeopardised: Information note on the treatment of Dublin returnees in Hungary, December 2011:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/hungary-access-to-protection-jeopardised.pdf
7. EU: BEHAVIOURAL ADS: Article 29 Working Party on data protection: Opinion on Best Practice Recommendation on Online Behavioural Advertising:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-art-29-wp-dp-behavioural-ads-no-188.pdf
and Letter: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-art-29-wp-dp-behavioural-ads-no-188-letter.pdf
See also: EU privacy watchdogs urge stricter rules on ‘cookies’ (euractiv, link)
http://www.euractiv.com/print/infosociety/eu-privacy-watchdogs-urge-stricter-rules-cookies-news-509825
8. FRANCE-LIBYA: French firm Amesys, criticised for selling to Gaddafi’s Libya, offers customers “lawful or massive interception” of telecommunications:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/03amesys-wikileaks.htm
9. EU: The Standing committee of experts on international immigration, refugee and criminal law (the Meijers Committee): Proposal to introduce a safeguard clause to suspend visa liberalisation (COM (2011) 290 final):
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-meijers-committee-visas.pdf
“the Meijers Committee expresses its doubts about the necessity of the proposal and observes that the proposal may place human rights at risk. Unfortunately the Draft report and the explanatory memorandum of the Rapporteur are silent on the human rights effects of the proposal. The Meijers Committee recommends that these effects are explicitly taken into account in the debate and vote on the proposal which probably will take place in January.
10. EU: REGULATION ON ACCESS TO EU DOCUMENTS: European Parliament: Public access to documents: towards more transparency in the EU (Press release):
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/ep-access-to-documents-reg-vote-prel.pdf
The report by rapporteur Michael Cashman MEP was passed with 394 votes in favour, 197 against and 35 abstentions.The report was opposed by the PPE (Centre-right, conservative group).
The European Commissioner Maro? ?efèoviè responsible for the dossier maintained the Commission’s long-standing “head in the sand” position and told the plenary: “This agreement risks taking time and I am afraid that, given the amendments proposed in the report, agreement on changes to the regulations is not within reach. I cannot of course anticipate the position that the Council will take on the proposed amendments but many of them cannot be accepted by the Commission.”
See: Report on the proposal for a regulation regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (recast)
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/nov/ep-access-to-eu-docs-revised-position.pdf
See also for all background informantion and documents Statewatch’s: Observatory: the Regulation on access to EU documents: 2008 – 2011 ongoing
http://www.statewatch.org/foi/observatory-access-reg-2008-2009.htm
11. EU: COUNTER-TERRORISM: European Parliament: EU counter-terrorism policy needs full assessment (Press release):
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/ep-ct-review-prel.pdf
The text, presented by S&D, ALDE and Greens/EFA groups, was approved with 307 votes in favour, 259 against and 54 abstentions. See: Full-text of report:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/ep-ct-report.pdf
“Post 9/11 counter-terrorism measures taken in Europe should be properly assessed with regard to their cost, effectiveness, democratic scrutiny and impact on civil liberties, says a resolution passed in plenary session on Wednesday.”
12. EU: TERRORISM: RESTRICTIVE MEASURES: Letter from the European Data Protection Supervisor to the President of the European Parliament:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-edps-ep-restrictive-measures-letter.pdf
The EDPS says that the Council significantly changed the data protection provisions put forward by the Commission and the High Representative regarding Syria and Afghanistan.
13. EU: COUNTER-TERRORISM: Council of the European Union:
– EU Action Plan on combating terrorism (53 pages):
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-council-terrorism-action-plan-17594-11.pdf
– Updated version of the implementation of the legislative instruments:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-council-terrorism-action-plan-17594-add1-11.pdf
14. EU-USA-PNR AGREEMENT: Analysis: A Review of the Annexes to the EU-USA PNR THE EU-USA PNR Agreement and related press release by Chris Pounder: “the comments in the margin explain why I think this Press Release turns “misleading by omission” into an art form.”
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-usa-pnr-deal-amberhawk-analysis.pdf
And see: Commission press release:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-usa-pnr-deal-com-prel.pdf
15. UK: Home Office: Statistical News Release: Operation of police powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent legislation: Arrests, outcomes and stops and searches, Great Britain Quarterly update to June 2011 (Press release):
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/uk-ho-terr-2000-prel.pdf
Report: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/uk-ho-terr-2000.pdf
In the year ending 30 June 2011: There were 134 persons arrested for terrorism-related offences compared with 131 in the previous 12 months. In total, 1,998 persons have been arrested for terrorism-related offences since 11 September 2001. (note: an average of 17 a month). Thirty-one per cent of those arrested were charged (42 people). Fifty-two per cent of these charges were terrorism related (i.e. 22 people were charged with terrorism-related offences in the year ending 30 June 2011). Since 11 September 2001, 250 persons have been convicted of terrorism-related offences out of 424 charged, a conviction rate of 59 per cent. (note: the number of convictions as a percentage of persons arrested, rather than just charged, is 12.5%). There were 116 persons in prison for terrorist/extremist or related offences on 30 June 2011 of whom 28 were classified as domestic extremists/separatists.
16. EU: Council of the European Union: Justice and Home Affairs Council, 13-14 December 2011, Brussels: Final Press release, 13-14 December:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-council-jha-13-14-dec-11-prel.pdf
“B” Points agenda – for discussion: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-council-jha-b-points-agenda-18282-11.pdf
“A” Points agenda: non-legislative – adopted without discussion:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-council-jha-a-pts-non-legis-agenda-18283-11.pdf
17. EU: Council of the European Union: Common procedures for international protection, Reception of asylum-seekers, Visa safeguards
– Asylum Working Party: Outcomes: Amended proposal for a Directive on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection status (Recast) (165 pages). There are still 230 reservations by Member State governments:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-council-asylum-procedures-17831-11.pdf
– Amended proposal for a Directive laying down standards for the reception of asylum seekers (Recast) (85 pages): There are still over 100 reservations by Member State governments: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-council-reception-outcomes-17832-11.pdf
– 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:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-council-visa-waivers-safeguard-clause-17924-rev2-11.pdf
– UK government letter to MEPs on JHA Council:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-uk-gov-jha-briefing.pdf
18. FRANCE: The Anafé brought to court by the Ministry of Interior: Hearing on 30 November 2011: The French government wants to conceal the obstacles made to foreigners to access their rights in transit zones:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/anafe-prel.pdf
19. EU-SCHENGEN: Council of the European Union: Schengen enlargement: Liechtenstein to become 26th member state:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-council-schengen-liecht.pdf
In the increasing “variable geometry” of the EU the Schengen area now comprises: 26 countries fully applying the Schengen acquis: all “EU27-countries” minus Bulgaria, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania and the United Kingdom (so it is not 27 but 22 EU Member States), plus non-EU countries Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein – the latter four “non-EU countries” however also sit on the so-called “Mixed Committee” of the Justice and Home Affairs Council and its working parties and thus have a say on justice and home affairs EU-wide.
20. HISTORICAL STATEWATCH PUBLICATION: On Globalisation of Control: Towards an Integrated Surveillance System in Europe by Thomas Mathiesen Professor of Sociology of law, University of Oslo (1999):
http://www.statewatch.org/analyses/no-163-globalisation-of-control-1999.pdf
21. UK: Cordon designed for chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear incidents deployed by Metropolitan Police at protest by public sector workers:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/02uk-public-order-cordon.htm
“A number of commentators have noted the use by the Metropolitan Police of a large steel barrier during the strike march by public sector workers on November 30th. Emblazoned with the words ‘POLICE CORDON’ and approximately eight feet tall, it now emerges that the solid steel fence that separated protestors on the Strand from tourists in Trafalgar Square was originally developed for deployment during chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) incidents.”
22. EU-USA PNR: European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS): EDPS issues an opinion on the new EU-US Passenger Name Record agreement (Press release):
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-edps-eu-usa-pnr-prel.pdf
and Opinion: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-edps-eu-usa-pnr-opinion.pdf
The EDPS comments:
“”Any legitimate agreement providing for the massive transfer of passengers’ personal data to third countries must fulfil strict conditions. Unfortunately, many concerns expressed by the EDPS and the national data protection authorities of the Member States have not been met. The same applies to the conditions required by the European Parliament to provide its consent.”
“- the 15-year retention period is excessive: data should be deleted immediately after its analysis or after a maximum of 6 months;
– the purpose limitation is too broad: PNR data should only be used to combat terrorism or a well defined list of transnational serious crimes;
– the list of data to be transferred to the DHS is disproportionate and contains too many open fields: it should be narrowed and exclude sensitive data;
– there are exceptions to the “push” method: these should be removed, the US authorities should not be able to access the data directly (“pull” method);
– there are limits to the exercise of data subjects’ rights: every citizen should have a right to effective judicial redress;
– the DHS should not transfer the data to other US authorities or third countries unless they guarantee an equivalent level of protection.”
See Statewatch’s: Observatory on the exchange of data on passengers (PNR) with USA
http://www.statewatch.org/pnrobservatory.htm
23. EU-USA PNR: Council of the European Union: Council gives green light for the new EU-US agreement on Passenger Name Records (PNR):
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-council-eu-usa-pnr-prel.pdf
The European Parliament has to give its “consent” before it can be formally adopted. See: 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): http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/nov/eu-com-council-decision-eu-usa-pnr-deal-com-807.pdf
24. EU: European Commission: Digital Agenda: Turning government data into gold (Press release)
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-com-open-data-prel.pdf
– Draft Commission Decision on the re-use of Commission documents:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-com-re-use-docs.pdf
– Proposal for a Amending Directive 2003/98/EC on re-use of public sector information:
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/eu-com-dir-re-use-docs.pdf
25. EU: European Parliament: Study: “Climate Refugees”: Legal and policy responses to environmentally induced migration
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2011/dec/ep-climate-change-refugees-study.pdf
26. IN THE NEWS
1. IRELAND: Racism in Ireland ‘has grown during recession’ (The jounrnal.ie, link)
http://www.thejournal.ie/racism-in-ireland-has-grown-during-recession-307806-Dec2011/
and see: Immigrants in Ireland are ‘under siege’, say black community leaders (The jounrnal.ie, link):
http://www.thejournal.ie/immigrants-in-ireland-are-under-siege-say-black-community-leaders-289470-Nov2011/
2. EU-ACTA: Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement: Letter to EP Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament from FFII (link):
http://acta.ffii.org/?p=978&preview=true
3. ITALY: Italian man kills two Senegalese traders in Florence (BBC News, link): “An Italian man has opened fire in two markets in central Florence, killing two Senegalese traders and injuring three others. The attacker, 50-year-old Gianluca Casseri, belonged to a far-right group, Italian media said. He killed two men and injured a third in Dalmazia Square before opening fire in San Lorenzo Square, wounding two. Casseri was later found dead in an underground car-park, having turned the gun on himself, police said.”http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16166243
4. The Cross-border Undercover Operation needs an International Independant Investigation (link):
http://www.andrej-hunko.de/presse/894-the-cross-border-undercover-operation-needs-an-international-independant-investigation
“Eight women have filed legal action against the Metropolitan Police. Five officers have been named that have infiltrated leftist movements since the 1980’s, and used deceipt to create sexual relationships with these women. Among them is the former undercover officer Mark Kennedy, who worked for the German police in the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern und Baden-Wuerttemberg.”
See also: Women start legal action against police chiefs over undercover officers – Eight women have started legal action against police chiefs, alleging that police spies used them “physically and emotionally” to obtain political intelligence (Guardian, link):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/undercover-with-paul-lewis-and-rob-evans/2011/dec/16/women-to-sue-over-undercover-spies/print
5. See: IN THE NEWS: http://www.statewatch.org/news/Newsinbrief.htm
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