15 EU return policy
| Committee's assessment
| Politically important
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| Committee's decision
| Cleared from scrutiny
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| Document details
| Commission Communication on EU return policy
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| Legal base
| — |
| Department
| Home Office
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Summary and Committee's conclusions
15.1 The principal purpose of this Commission
Communication is to assess Member States' application of a 2008
Directive ("the EU Return Directive") establishing common
standards and procedures for the return or removal of third country
nationals who do not have a right to enter or stay in the territory
of an EU Member State. It also considers the evolution and impact
of EU return policy in recent years and identifies areas for future
EU action.
15.2 The UK does not participate in
the EU Return Directive and is not bound by its provisions, but
does take part, on a case-by-case basis, in other EU instruments
which are intended to help Member States tackle irregular migration.
It also takes part in joint return operations coordinated by
FRONTEX, the EU Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation
at the External Borders.
15.3 The Government has expressed concern
about three proposals for future EU action:
· the publication of a Handbook
on Returns;
· the launch of a project to
pilot a post-return monitoring mechanism; and
· the introduction of a requirement
for independent monitors to accompany every joint return operation
coordinated by FRONTEX.
15.4 We sought further information on
each of these concerns and published the Government's response
in our First Report, agreed on 4 June. The Minister for Immigration
and Security (James Brokenshire) told us that, since 2010, the
UK had participated in 16 joint return flights coordinated by
Frontex which had returned 313 individuals. However, these raw
figures give little indication of how significant a role Frontex
operations play in the return of third country migrants from the
UK to their countries of origin or transit. We therefore asked
for more detailed information on the proportion of migrants
returned from the UK by these means, rather than by purely domestic
return flights.
15.5 The Minister acknowledged that
the practicability of requiring independent monitors to accompany
every joint return operation coordinated by Frontex was essentially
a capacity issue. We asked him also to address the question of
principle, namely whether the Government would support the mandatory
presence of independent monitors for all Frontex joint return
operations if resources were to be made available from existing
EU funding programmes to develop the necessary capacity, and whether
the Government would consider this to be a worthwhile use of EU
funds.
15.6 In this, our third Report on the
Commission Communication, we set out the Minister's response,
as well as his assessment of Council Conclusions on EU Return
Policy agreed at the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 5 June.
15.7 We thank the Minister for his
reply which now completes our scrutiny of the Commission Communication.
15.8 We note that Council Conclusions
on EU Return Policy agreed by Justice and Home Affairs Ministers
in June invite the Commission to initiate a pilot project to improve
the rate of return to a number of pre-selected third countries.[72]
We ask the Minister to inform us, in due course, of the countries
selected and to indicate whether the UK intends to participate.
Full details of the
documents: Commission Communication
on EU return policy: (35922), 8415/14, COM(14) 199.
Background
15.9 Our Forty-seventh Report, agreed
on 30 April, summarises the content of the Commission Communication
and the Government's response.
15.10 The Government questioned the
need for an EU Handbook on Returns on the grounds that it would
be more likely to focus on the rights of the individual than action
by Member States to tackle abuse. It dismissed the proposal to
launch a project to pilot a post-return monitoring mechanism as
impractical and inappropriate, and suggested that the introduction
of a requirement for independent monitors to accompany every joint
return operation coordinated by FRONTEX could delay or prevent
returns.
15.11 Whilst acknowledging that the
UK is in a different position from most other Member States in
that it is not bound by the EU Return Directive, we noted that
some of the actions proposed in the Communication were nevertheless
likely to affect the UK because of its involvement in joint return
operations coordinated by FRONTEX. We asked the Government to
provide some indication of the value (with accompanying data)
that it attaches to UK participation in FRONTEX joint return operations
and to substantiate its concerns about the practical impact of
requiring the involvement of independent monitors in all such
operations.
The Minister's letter of 24 June 2014
15.12 The Minister (James Brokenshire)
first addresses UK involvement in Frontex joint return operations:
"Regarding the proportion of
migrants returned from the UK by Frontex joint operations rather
than by purely domestic return flights, since 2010 the UK has
operated 212 charter flights, returning 9,163 individuals. Of
these, 21 were Frontex joint return operations led by the UK and
co-funded by Frontex. These returned 419 individuals. During
that period, Frontex joint return operations represented 10% of
all UK chartered returns operations and 5% of all individuals
returned from the UK by charter flight."
15.13 Turning to the use of independent
monitors, the Minister continues:
"The Home Office strives to
secure the independent monitoring of all the Frontex joint return
operations in which it participates. Monitoring improves transparency
and provides an opportunity to review and improve processes. However,
we do not believe monitoring should be mandatory, as an operation
may be delayed or cancelled if such monitors are unavailable.
We consider it is sufficient for the presence of monitors to
be sought rather than making their availability a pre-condition
for every flight.
"The UK would welcome assistance
to develop the capacity of independent monitors, but we should
ensure that EU funds are managed within budget, with a view to
improving efficiency and reducing administrative burdens."
15.14 The Minister notes that the Justice
and Home Affairs Council agreed Conclusions on EU Return Policy
at its meeting on 5 June, adding:
"They are focused on practical
co-operation and capacity building and are acceptable to the UK.
We agree that the consolidation of existing rules and a renewed
focus on third country engagement on a practical level should
be the next step in moving forward on returns at EU level.
"The proposals which previously
concerned us in the Communication do not appear or have been significantly
changed in the Council Conclusions. Post-returns monitoring in
third countries and the prohibition of arrests in or near schools
and hospitals are not supported. The proposal for an EU handbook
is now limited in scope to cover only guidelines that relate to
existing EU legislation on returns. There is also no provision
regarding independent monitoring of Frontex flights.
"The Council Conclusions also
contain a proposal for a pilot project to improve the number of
returns to specifically identified third countries. While we
endorse the principle of upstream engagement and joint cooperative
working at a practical level, we consider that Member State participation
in any EU-coordinated joint work should be voluntary and decided
on a case-by-case basis.
"This reflects the EU's broader
approach on upstream engagement under the Global Approach to Migration
and Mobility (GAMM). We have secured language on the pilot project
in the Council Conclusions to make clear that participation should
be voluntary for Member States."
Previous Committee Reports
First Report HC 219-i (2014-15), chapter
17 (4 June 2014); Forty-seventh Report HC 83-xlii (2013-14), chapter
13 (30 April 2014).
72 See http://www.eu-un.europa.eu/articles/en/article_15108_en.htm. Back
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