§ Mr. JenkinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions have taken place with European Union countries regarding the issue of people trafficking into Europe. [172508]
§ Mr. BrowneThe UK is working with EU partners and countries beyond the borders of the EU to combat the trafficking of people.
The UK participated fully in the drafting of the EU framework decision on trafficking and has been involved in discussions at EU level on provisions within this and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons which supplements the United Nations Convention against Trans- National Organised Crime. We are currently involved with, and in discussion with EU partners about, the drafting of a Council of Europe Convention on trafficking.
Through Reflex, the NCS chaired multi-agency taskforce on organised immigration crime, the UK continues to discuss and work in partnership with other EU countries and organisations such as Europol and Eurojust to take effective enforcement action against trafficking.
Building relationships with international partners is an important element of the UK strategy to combat trafficking. The UK has successfully bid for a twinning project under the EU Phare scheme in the Czech Republic. The aims of the project are to strengthen the fight against trafficking into and through the Czech Republic. This will be run in partnership with the Czech Republic and the Netherlands and is due to be launched in June 2004.