§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the content of the acquis built up by intergovernmental co-operation between the 12 member states referred to in the press release of the meeting of 1 and 2 June of the Ministers responsible for immigration in Copenhagen; and if he will place a copy in the Library.
§ Mr. Charles WardleThe "acquis" will be those instruments and agreements between the member states which the applicant countries will be required to accept on acceding to the Community. This will include legally binding instruments such as the Dublin convention. Discussions between the member states on other items to be included are at an early stage.
§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what work has been begun by the Centre for Information, Discussion and Exchange on the Crossing of Borders and Immigration referred to in the Copenhagen meeting of Ministers responsible for immigration on 1 and 2 June.
§ Mr. Charles WardleThe Centre for Information, Discussion and Exchange on the Crossing of Borders and Immigration (CIREFI) is intended to provide a permanent mechanism for regular exhange of information, consultation and collaboration on practical matters between the relevant departments of the member states including information on member states' control procedures and immigration legislation.
It has so far held only one meeting, on 7 April 1993.
§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the agenda of the ad hoc group on immigration under the Belgian presidency; and how many days have been allocated for its meetings.
§ Mr. Charles WardleThe Belgian presidency has provisionally allocated a total of eight days to four meetings of the ad hoc group on immigration.
It will be for the Belgian presidency to determine the agenda for each of these meetings as they arise. The main agenda item for the first meeting will be the presentation of the presidency's programme for the coming six months. It is expected that the ad hoc group and its sub-groups will continue work currently in hand both on preparations for implementation of the Dublin convention and external frontiers convention, and under the immigration and asylum work programme agreed by Ministers at the end of the Dutch presidency in December 1991, including on admission for employment, harmonisation of asylum procedures and measures to combat illegal immigration.
§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the budget of the Centre for Information, Discussion and Exchange on the Crossing of Borders and Immigration; and what are the sources of its funding.
§ Mr. Charles WardleThe Centre for Information, Discussion and Exchange on the Crossing of Borders and Immigration (CIREFI) has no separate budget. Meetings are serviced by a small number of staff from the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Communities and accommodation is provided within the offices of the Council.
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§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for further relaxation of controls at internal borders of the European Community as referred to in the press release of the meeting of 1 and 2 June of the Ministers responsible for immigration in Copenhagen.
§ Mr. Charles WardleMy right hon. and learned Friend, the then Home Secretary, informed the House in a written answer on 17 December 1992, at column445, that we would be considering what further changes might be made in the course of 1993 to the United Kingdom immigration arrangements vis-á-vis member states of the Europoan Community, in furtherance of our policy of reducing checks on European Community nationals to the minimum compatible with the retention of effective immigration controls on third-country nationals, together with adequate safeguards against the entry of terrorists and other serious criminals.
The change which we have in mind is that EC nationals arriving at ferry ports from other European Community member states would be required to confirm their EC status by holding up an EC passport or identity card, but immigration officers would not normally examine the document in detail. The officer would, however, make a full examination where there was any suspicion that the document was not genuine or that the passenger was not in fact an EC national. We have not yet reached any decision on exactly when this arrangement might be introduced at ferry ports or on whether, as the European Commission have suggested, it might be possible to extend it to some smaller regional airports in respect of EC passengers arriving from elsewhere within the European Community.
§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the relationship between United Kingdom immigration policy and the premise referred to in the report of the meeting of Ministers responsible for immigration at their meeting in Copenhagen on 1 and 2 June on the necessity of control of migratory flows for the successful integration of immigrants lawfully resident in the territories of member states.
§ Mr. Charles WardleAt the meeting of EC Immigration Ministers in Copenhagen, which I attended, there was a general consensus that the maintenance of effective immigration controls was an important factor in achieving the successful integration of immigrants lawfully resident in member states of the Community.
This view is entirely compatible with the Government's policy of applying immigration controls which are both firm and fair.
§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the address and the name of the director of the Centre for Information, Discussion and Exchange on the Crossing of Borders and Immigration.
§ Mr. Charles WardleThe Centre for Immigration, Discussion and Exchange on the Crossing of Borders and Immigration (CIREFI) has no director. Meetings are chaired by the EC presidency and are held in Brussels in the offices of the Council of the European Communities.