18 Immigration Liaison Officers Network
| (24633)
9870/03
—
| Draft Council Regulation on the creation of an immigration liaison officers network.
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| Legal base | Articles 63(3)(b) and 66 EC; consultation; unanimity
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| Department | Home Office |
| Basis of consideration | EM of 2 July 2003 and Minister's letters of 18 September and 29 October 2003
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| Previous Committee Report | HC 63-xxx (2002-03), paragraph 10 (16 July 2003)
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| To be discussed in Council | Date not set
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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Background
18.1 Immigration liaison officers (ILOs) are posted by Member
States to third countries in order to combat illegal immigration.
In June 2002, the Seville European Council called for a network
of Member States' immigration liaison officers to be created before
the end of 2002. In November 2002, the Justice and Home Affairs
Council adopted Conclusions on the improvement of the network,
on the basis of a Presidency report. The Conclusions noted that
a network of liaison officers was in place in most of the countries
surveyed in the report, but that it needed to be strengthened.
The document
18.2 The document seeks to formalise the existence and functioning
of a network of (ILOs) by means of a legally binding instrument.
The draft Regulation sets out the functions and responsibilities
of ILOs, the establishment of local or regional co-operation
networks and the way they should operate, the potential for shared
tasks and representation and the way in which the Community is
to be informed of ILO activities.
The Government's views
18.3 In her Explanatory Memorandum of 2 July 2003, the Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office (Caroline Flint) told
us:
"The Government is strongly in favour of the concept of ILOs,
and supports the further development of the ILO network in order
to maximise the potential of its mandate. The main purpose of
the network is to gather tactical intelligence to be used in targeting
the criminals behind organised illegal immigration. An added benefit
is the potential to give constructive assistance to the law enforcement
agencies of the countries to which ILOs are posted. Since August
2001 the UK has established a network of nine such officers, in
the Balkan region and more widely. Three officers have been identified
to take up additional posts during this calendar year, and up
to nine further posts are likely to be trawled during the financial
year 2003/04. Although the network is managed by the National
Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), to whom ILOs report, IND's[39]
Intelligence Service (INDIS) retains the policy lead."
The Minister went on to explain some specific concerns about the
document.
18.4 When we considered it on 16 July[40],
we decided to keep the document under scrutiny until we knew more
about the progress of negotiations and until we had received the
Minister's response to the our questions about:
the current role of the UK's ILOs;
the required qualifications for ILOs generally and
in the UK particularly;
the Government's position on external consultations
about the document; and
clarification of whether the Government would be
opting into the proposal.
18.5 In her letters of 18 September and 29 October,
the Minister provides the replies to our questions and tells us
about the progress in the negotiations on the document. The annex
to the first of her letters sets out the detailed current job
description of the UK's ILOs. She confirms that the draft Regulation
does not specify the qualifications of ILOs; this is left for
each Member State to decide for itself. No formal qualifications
are required for UK ILO posts but the following competences are
sought:
an adaptable and flexible approach to new working
environments;
strong interpersonal, communication and representational
skills;
effective decision-making;
a high level of self-motivation; and
ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines.
18.6 In September, Home Office officials met representatives
of Amnesty International, the Immigration Law Practitioners Association,
the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, OXFAM, the Refugee
Council, Torture Care and UNHCR and invited them to send any comments
on the draft Regulation. So far, none has done so.
18.7 The Government has now decided to opt into the
Regulation and has successfully secured some detailed amendments
to the text.
18.8 The Government is now content with the document
and strongly supports the creation of the ILO network.
Conclusion
18.9 We are grateful to the Minister for her persuasive
and helpful replies to our questions. We agree that the ILOs can
make a valuable contribution to efforts to combat illegal immigration
and we are satisfied by the revised text of the draft Regulation.
Accordingly, we clear the document from scrutiny.
39 The Home Office Immigration and Nationality Directorate. Back
40
See headnote. Back
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