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16.05.2012 First 'health check' for Schengen Today the Commission adopted its first Schengen 'health check', a biannual overview on the functioning of the area. The report covers the period from November 2011 to April 2012 and assesses the situation at the Schengen internal and external borders where more than 1.25 billion journeys take place every year. For more information:
10.05.2012 Rights of long-term EU residents - two important judgements by the Court of Justice Recently, the Court of Justice of the European Union has delivered two significant judgments concerning non-EU nationals who are long term residents in the EU. Firstly, in a case concerning housing benefits of an Albanian national living in Italy, the Court has stated that EU law precludes a national or regional law which provides for different treatment for non-EU nationals and nationals of the EU State in which they reside, in so far as the housing benefit falls within the fields covered by the principle of equal treatment provided for under the Directive concerning long-term residents and constitutes a core benefit. Secondly, in a case examining resident permit fees in the Netherlands, the Court holds that an EU State cannot impose excessive and disproportionate charges for the grant of residence permits to non-EU nationals who are long-term residents and to members of their families. For more information: 19.04.2012 Commissioner Malmström on the EU-US PNR Agreement For more information:
29.03.2012 Joint EU resettlement programme: increasing resettlement of refugees in Europe The European Parliament adopted today the 'Joint EU Resettlement Programme' presented by the Commission in 2009. The EU wide resettlement scheme is a considerable step towards concrete engagements and increased cooperation regarding resettlement of refugees to Europe. For more information:
28.03.2012 Fight against cybercrime: the Commission proposes to establish a European Cybercrime Centre  The Commission proposed today to establish a European Cybercrime Centre within Europol to become the Union's focal point in the fight against cybercrime. The Centre would pool European cybercrime expertise and training efforts. It would warn EU countries of major cybercrime threats, of new ways to commit online crimes and identify organised cybercrime networks and prominent offenders in cyberspace. The Centre would also be able to respond to queries from cybercrime investigators, prosecutors and judges as well as the private sector on specific technical and forensic issues. It would provide operational support in concrete investigations and help set up cybercrime Joint Investigation Teams. For more information:
21.03.2012 New Agency for operational management of large-scale IT systems The first meeting of the Management Board of the new EU Agency responsible for information systems in the Home Affairs area will take place on tomorrow in Tallinn. The core mission of the Agency will be to fulfil the operational management tasks for the Visa Information System (VIS), EURODAC and, as from March 2013, the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II). Its main task will be to ensure that these systems operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For more information:
12.03.2012 Cracking down on crime profits Today the Commission proposed new rules for a more effective and widespread confiscation of funds and other property acquired through crime. The proposal will simplify existing rules and fill important gaps which are exploited by persons belonging to organised. Facilitating asset confiscation will hamper criminal activities and deter criminality by showing that crime does not pay. It will also protect our economy against criminal infiltration and corruption. For more information:
08.03.2012 Cities and the EC discuss migrant integration The 5th Integrating Cities Conference took place in Amsterdam in March 2012. Cities and the European Commission considered a development of a strategic partnership for integration. For more information: 08.03.2012 Commissioner Malmström on the Joint EU resettlement programme For more information:
08.03.2012 The fight against trafficking of firearms stepped up The new EU legislation on control of export, import and transit of firearms has been adopted today. The legislation makes it harder for arms trafficking to take place. For more information:
08.03.2012 Stefano Manservisi, Director-General for Home Affairs on the occasion of the International Women's Day Today, we together commemorate the struggle for women's rights in the economic, social, political and cultural domain and we celebrate some remarkable achievements – an example above all – the three Nobel Peace Prize in 2011. This is also a day where we need to specifically remember women who are victims of crime; women who are trafficked throughout the world; women who migrate in search of a better future; women whose children are abused by criminal networks. We thank women for their efforts to ensure that women and men live in a free, safe and equal world. 27.02.2012 Commission urges EU States to apply law aimed at attracting high qualified migrants and sanctioning employers of irregular migrants Despite having been warned in July 2011, Austria, Cyprus and Greece have not complied yet with EU rules on work permits for highly qualified migrants. Today, the Commission decided to formally request these States to transpose the rules of the Blue Card Directive, whose deadline for implementation expired on 19 June 2011. At the same time, some EU States are still failing to apply EU rules on sanctions and measures against employers of irregularly-staying migrants. Today, the Commission decided to advance infringement proceedings and issue reasoned opinions requesting Belgium, Luxembourg and Sweden to take action. For more information:
27.02.2012 Commission harmonizes issuing of short stay visas in Egypt Today the European Commission has adopted a decision to further harmonize issuing of short stay visas. From now on visa applicants in Egypt should present the same set of documents supporting their application for a short stay visa, irrespectively of which EU States' consulate is in charge of examining their application. 23.02.2012 Asylum - important judgement of the European Court of Human Rights In today’s Grand Chamber judgment, the European Court of Human rights gave its verdict in a case concerning Somalian and Eritrean migrants who had been intercepted at sea by the Italian authorities and sent back to Libya. The Court held unanimously that returning migrants to Libya without examining their case exposed them to a risk of ill-treatment and amounted to a collective expulsion. The Court also agreed that although the operation took place at high seas the applicants fell within the jurisdiction of Italy for the purposes of Article 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. For more information: 15.02.2012 Eurobarometer: Europeans consider corruption a major problem  According to the Eurobarometer survey published by the Commission today almost three quarters of Europeans continue to see corruption as a major problem, think it exists at all levels of government and has increased in the last three years. Eight percent of respondents say that they have been asked or expected to pay a bribe in the past year. Whilst the nature and scope of corruption varies from one EU State to another, corruption harms the EU as a whole. The economic costs incurred by corruption in the EU are estimated to amount to around € 120 billion per year. In June last year, the European Commission adopted an anti-corruption package calling for a stronger focus on corruption in all relevant EU policies . It also established a specific EU monitoring and assessment mechanism, an EU Anti-Corruption Report, which will give an account of the state of play of anti-corruption efforts in all member countries. The first report is scheduled for 2013. The Commission will soon propose further legislation, notably on the confiscation of criminals' assets, the reform of public procurement rules, more advanced statistics on crime and an enhanced anti-fraud policy at the European level. For more information:
09.02.2012 New Visa liberalisation reports for the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine The Second Progress Reports on the implementation by the Republic of Moldova and by Ukraine of their respective Action Plans on Visa Liberalisation were published today. For more info: 07.01.2012 Safer Internet Day 2012 This year, the various activities in countries on all continents focus on the topic "Connecting generations and educating each other". Young and old are encouraged to discover the digital world together...safely! For more information on activities in your region go to www.saferinternetday.org. 25.01.2012 A comprehensive reform of the data protection rules As part of its reform of the EU data protection legislation, the Commission adopted a specific proposal aiming to regulate the collection and use of personal data by the police and the judiciary. For more info:
19.01.2012 Commissioner Malmström launches Kosovo visa liberalisation dialogue Cecilia Malmström in Kosovo Cecilia Malmström is in Pristina today to launch a visa liberalisation dialogue. The aim of the process is to eventually lift the visa obligation for citizens of Kosovo once the Government of Kosovo will have implemented substantial reforms in several key areas including the security of travel documents, border, migration and asylum management and the fight against organised crime and corruption. For more info:
18.01.2012 Action plan on crime statistics Commission puts forward an action plan on collection of statistics in different crime areas. Communication:
13.01.2012 'Operation Fire' breaks up synthetic drugs network An international organised crime network, responsible for a large-scale production and trafficking of synthetic drugs, has been broken up following an extensive investigation by EUROPOL and several other European law enforcement authorities. The operation has resulted in an arrest of the key members of the criminal network, a discovery of 3 illegal drug production facilities and a seizure of over 100 kg of amphetamine, significant quantities of drug precursors, ammunition, firearms and explosives. Read more: |
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