HC Deb 30 April 2001 vol 367 cc530-1W
Mr. Bercow

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the Council Working Parties on Justice and Home Affairs, indicating(a) the number of meetings since 2000 and (b) the items on the agenda for each. [158757]

Mrs. Roche

The Treaty on European Union established the "Article 36 Committee", a co-ordinating committee of senior officials in the field of police co-operation and judicial co-operation in criminal matters. The Committee of Permanent Representatives has also approved, most recently in 1999, a list of working parties and committees in the Justice and Home Affairs sector. In addition, a number of the working parties established by the Permanent Representatives Committee in the General Affairs sector deal with issues with a justice and home affairs dimension.

Since the start of the Swedish Presidency on 1 January 2001, there have been 176 meetings of these working groups. To provide an itemised agenda for each meeting would involve disproportionate cost. However, the agendas can be obtained individually from the Swedish Presidency website at "www.eu2001.se".

List of Working Parties:

  • Justice and Home Affairs
  • Strategic Committee on Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum
  • Working Party on Migration and Expulsion Visas Working Party
  • Asylum Working Party
    1. (a) Dublin Convention
    2. (b) Eurodac
  • Centre for Information, Discussion and Exchange on Asylum (CIREA) Working Party
  • Centre for Information, Discussion and Exchange on the Crossing of Frontiers and Immigration (CIREFI) Working Party
  • Working Party on Frontiers (including false documents)
  • Committee on Civil Law Matters
  • Working Party on Information Systems and Data
  • Protection (excluding Schengen Information System)
  • Schengen Information System (SIS) Working Party
  • Schengen Information Technical (SIS-TECH) Working Party
    1. (a) General
    2. (b) Schengen Information System Network (SISNET)
  • Supplementary Information Request at National Entry (SIRENE) Working Party
  • Police Co-operation Working Party (including false documents)
    1. (a) Telecommunications
    2. (b) Investigative Techniques and Forensic Science
    3. (c) Exchange of Police Intelligence
  • Europol Working Party
  • Working Party on Terrorism
  • Working Party on Drug Trafficking
  • Customs Co-operation Working Party
  • Working Party on Co-operation in Criminal Matters
  • Working Party on Substantive Criminal Law
  • Working Party on Collective Evaluation
  • Working Party on Schengen Evaluation
  • Working Party on the Schengen Acquis
  • Multidisciplinary Group on Organised Crime (including the Pre-accession Pact Experts Group (PAPEG))
  • Working Party on the European Judicial Network
  • Working Party on the Contact and Support Network
  • Working Party on Civil Protection
  • General Affairs (Horizontal Issues)
  • High Level Working Group on Asylum and Migration
  • Horizontal Working Party on Drugs
  • General Affairs (External Relations)
  • Committee for Civilian Aspects of Crisis Management.