22 Assistance in the removal of third
country nationals through the territory of other Member States
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11770/03
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+ ADD 1
| Draft Council Directive on assistance in cases of transit through the territory of one or more Member States in the context of removal measures taken by Member States against third-country nationals.
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| Legal base | Article 63(3)(b) EC; consultation; unanimity
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| Document originated | 8 August 2003
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| Deposited in Parliament | 8 September 2003
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| Department | Home Office |
| Basis of consideration | EM of 2 October 2003
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| Previous Committee Report | None
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| To be discussed in Council | No date set
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Not cleared
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Background
22.1 Article 63(3)(b) of the EC Treaty requires the Council to
adopt measures on the repatriation of illegal residents. Last
May we considered a draft Directive on the removal of third country
nationals by air, which we regarded as politically important.
We decided to clear it when we were told that the Government had
decided not to opt into the proposal.[43]
22.2 The Italian Presidency has now proposed a draft
Directive on assistance for the removal of illegally resident
third country nationals over land, through the territory of other
Member States. By virtue of the Protocol on the position of the
United Kingdom and Ireland, the UK will have three months after
the adoption of the measure to decide whether to opt into it.
The document
22.3 The document provides that, where a third country
national is the subject of an order for removal from a Member
State, that Member State ("the requesting Member State")
may apply to another Member State ("the requested Member
State")for the transit of the person through its territory.
The request may be made to more than one Member State if that
is necessary to achieve the removal of the person to the third
country of destination. The document specifies the grounds on
which a request for transit may be refused. Requests should normally
be made not later than two days before the proposed transit and
the requested Member State should normally accept or reject a
request within two days of receiving it.
22.4 The transit should normally be completed within
36 hours. Public carriers, such as scheduled trains, buses, ferries
and unmarked police cars, should be used. The requested Member
State would be required to provide the third country nationals
and their escorts with assistance, including sustenance, accommodation
and medical assistance. The requesting Member State would meet
the cost of the assistance.
22.5 In implementing the Directive, Member States
would be expressly required to respect human rights under the
Geneva Convention on refugees and the European Convention on Human
Rights.
The Government's view
22.6 The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at
the Home Office (Caroline Flint) says that the Government generally
takes a positive approach to participation in measures on illegal
immigration and supports increasing operational cooperation on
the removal of third country nationals.
22.7 The Minister tells us that the discussion of
the document has only just started in the relevant Council Working
Group. The Government's concerns about the Air Transport Directive
also apply to this proposal about transit by land. Among other
things, the present draft does not contain enough flexibility
to refuse a request for transit. The requirement to provide assistance
would impose direct costs and heavy logistical burdens on the
requested Member State. Moreover, there are insufficient safeguards
for Member States when transit operations stall, with the potential
for the requested State to be left with responsibility to consider
asylum and human rights claims made during the transit.
22.8 The Government will take a full part in the
discussion of the proposal and will consider whether to opt into
it.
Conclusion
22.9 We understand the reasons for the Government's
concerns about the proposal and note that discussion of it in
the Working Group is still at an early stage. We shall keep the
document under scrutiny until the outcome of the discussion of
the Government's concerns is known and until the Government can
tell us if it intends to opt into the initiative.
43 (23762) 10386/02 (24405) 7366/03; see HC 63-xxiii
(2002-03), paragraph 19 (4 June 2003). Back
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