European Union (Hansard, 31 July 1997)

§ Mr. Peter Bradley
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the Government's policy on justice and home affairs matters currently under discussion within the European Union. [11922]

§ Ms Quin
In securing its major policy objectives in the Amsterdam treaty, the Government ensured that the United Kingdom would continue to play a leading role in European Union co-operation to fight crime, drugs and terrorism.
During its current presidency of the European Union, Luxembourg proposes to give priority to the implementation of the Dublin convention on asylum; to undertake further work on a draft Eurodac convention; and to work towards further measures to tackle illegal immigration. Attention will also be given to issues relating to the implementation of the Europol convention; work to counter a range of organised criminal activities; and aspects of the illegal production and trafficking of drugs.
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In general, Luxembourg's work programme has a strong practical emphasis, which the Government welcome, and on which we intend to build during the United Kingdom presidency in 1998.
A full explanatory note on Luxembourg's proposed work programmes was made available for parliamentary scrutiny earlier this month under explanatory note reference 9378/97.

§ Mr. Streeter
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has, pursuant to article K.2 of the Amsterdam treaty for(a) operational co-operation of law enforcement bodies, (b) training and secondment of staff, (c) shared use of equipment and forensics and (d) common evaluation of investigative techniques. [11402]

§ Mr. Michael
[holding answer 30 July 1997]: Support for operational co-operation, training and secondments, equipment and forensic science, and relevant investigative techniques are all matters which are already discussed under title VI of the present treaty on European Union. It is for future consideration exactly how they will be taken forward when the Amsterdam treaty is in force, but this will not require radical changes.

§ Mr. Streeter
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what operational guidelines will be issued on the protection of personal data while law enforcement bodies operate under article K.2 of the Amsterdam treaty. [11403]

§ Mr. Michael
[holding answer 30 July 1997]: We have no current plans to issue guidelines of this sort. The law enforcement agencies of member states will continue to operate in accordance with national law. The Europol convention already contains data protection provisions relating to Europol, and data protection issues will be considered fully in the development of any new initiatives at European Union level.

§ Mr. Streeter
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on(a) the independent operational capacity of Europol following the Amsterdam treaty and (b) Europol's proposed research, documentation and statistical network on cross-border crime. [11404]

§ Mr. Michael
[holding answer 30 July 1997]: Article K.2 of the Amsterdam treaty sets out the future role of Europol in supporting operational activity by law enforcement agencies of member states. Europol will have no independent operational capacity. The reference to a research documentation and statistical network is consistent with the tasks already set out in the Europol convention. It will be for consideration, once the Amsterdam treaty and the Europol convention have been ratified, whether Europol's role in this area should be developed further.

§ Mr. Streeter
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact of the asylum protocol of the Amsterdam treaty on the formulation of(a) a common asylum policy and (b) a common asylum system for the European Union. [11411]

§ Mr. Mike O'Brien
[holding answer 30 July 1997]: The asylum protocol of the draft Amsterdam treaty concerns the handling of claims for asylum from nationals 565W of European Union member states in other member states. As such, it will apply to a relatively small number of cases.
The position of the United Kingdom in relation to other measures which might be adopted under the new title in the treaty of the European Communities concerning free movement of persons, asylum and immigration, is guaranteed by protocol Y of the draft Amsterdam treaty. This provides that such measures shall not be binding on or applicable in the United Kingdom and Ireland unless either or both states wish to take part.