WRITTEN QUESTION P-4068/00 by Karla Peijs (PPE-DE) to the Council. Illegal emigration from the Schengen area to Britain.
Date: 2000-12-20
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU migration policy, Schengen Agreement, United Kingdom, illegal migration

C 174 E/226

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

19.6.2001

Reply

(8 March 2001)

informs the Honourable Member that, under existing Community legislation (1), Turkey
The Council
appears on the common list of countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing
the external borders of the Member States.

Moreover, on the basis of Article 62(2)(b)(i) of the TEC, the Commission submitted on 26 January 2000 a
proposal for a Regulation listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when
crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement (2). Turkey is
among the third countries for whose nationals the Commission proposes the visa requirement.

The European Parliament, which was consulted in a letter of 16 March 2000, confirmed the Commission
proposal in this respect in its opinion delivered on 5 July 2000. This proposal, which is currently being
discussed within the Council, was the subject of a further consultation of the European Parliament on
11 December 2000.

(1) Council Regulation (EC) No 574/1999 of 12 March 1999 determining the third countries whose nationals must be

in possession of visas when crossing the external borders of the Member States (OJ L 72, 18.3.1999, p. 2).

(2) OJ C 177 E, 27.6.2000, p. 66.

(2001/C 174 E/243)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-4068/00

by Karla Peijs (PPE-DE) to the Council

(20 December 2000)

Subject: Illegal emigration from the Schengen area to Britain

1.

Is the Council aware that there is substantial illegal emigration from the Schengen area to Britain?

Is the Council aware that checks at the external frontiers in Calais, Zeebrugge and Hook of Holland
2.
in particular leave much to be desired since spot checks on lorry drivers have found hundreds of
stowaways trying to leave the Schengen area, and many of these people have taken the opportunity of
illegally entering the Schengen area?

3.
Is the Council aware that with spot checks and, recently, checks on all freight at the Schengen
external frontier, border checks are in fact being carried out by private firms and not by the competent
authorities?

4.
Is the Council aware that stowaways stopped by private firms and handed over to the competent
authorities are released by those authorities so that they can (cid:145)go underground(cid:146) again and make a fresh
attempt to cross to Britain?

Does the Council agree that frontier checks should be carried out by the competent authorities and

5.
not by private individuals?

6. What action does the Council intend to take to put an end to this situation?

7. What action does the Council intend to take to compensate lorry drivers who, for no fault of their
own, fall victim to the UK(cid:146)s highly inflexible Immigration and Asylum Act (of 3 April 2000) and the
unworkable Code of Conduct which is part of that act?

19.6.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 174 E/227

Reply

(8 March 2001)

Illegal immigration towards the European Union is one of the main issues the Council is dealing
1.
with, as shown by the conclusions of the European Councils in Tampere, Santa Maria da Feira and Nice.
As the Honourable Member will be aware of, the European Council committed the European Union to
intensified cooperation to defeat trafficking in human beings, following the tragic events of Dover last year.
The Council is aware that illegal emigration takes place also from one Member State to another Member
State. However, the Council has no information or statistics about the size of illegal emigration taking
place from the Schengen area towards the United Kingdom.

The Council has no information about the quality or effectiveness of border controls carried out in
2.
Calais, Zeebrugge and Hoek van Holland. Standards and procedures to be followed by Member States in
carrying out border control are defined in the Schengen acquis which, since the entry into force of the
Amsterdam Treaty, has been integrated in Community law under Title IV TEC. It therefore belongs to the
Commission, as guardian of the Treaties, to verify whether Member States comply with their obligations in
respect of such issues.

3. and 5.
Controls at borders are carried out only by officers of the border police forces or of Member
States(cid:146) services responsible in accordance with national law for border police duties. Controls which are
carried out by carriers or other private firms at Schengen external borders are not to be considered as
border controls. These controls are carried out by carriers in order to comply with the provisions of
Article 26 of the Schengen Implementing Convention. In accordance with this article, carriers are obliged
to take all the necessary measures to ensure that an alien carried by air or sea is in possession of the travel
documents required for entry into the territories of the Contracting Parties. Penalties can be imposed on
carriers who transport aliens who do not possess the necessary travel documents.

4.

The Council has no information regarding these practices.

6.
Following the conclusions of the Tampere and Santa Maria da Feira European Councils, underlining
the importance of the control of migration flows, the Council has discussed both operational and
prescriptive measures to combat trafficking in human beings. In this respect, the Council adopted on
30 November 2000, conclusions including some operational measures to combat illegal immigration i.e.
the exchange of information on observed flows, the optimisation of the early warning system for the
transmission of information on illegal immigration and facilitator networks and the coordination of the
networks of Member States(cid:146) liaison officers in the countries which are sources of illegal immigration.

With regard to prescriptive measures, the Council(cid:146)s bodies are discussing a draft Council Directive, based
on an initiative from France, concerning the harmonisation of penalties imposed on carriers transporting
into the territory of the Member States third country nationals lacking the documents necessary for
admission. The initiative was published in the Official Journal (1). On 6 September 2000 the Council
forwarded the initiative to the European Parliament for Opinion.

Furthermore, the Council(cid:146)s bodies are discussing a draft Directive defining the facilitation of unauthorised
entry, movement and residence as well as a draft Framework Decision on the strengthening of the penal
framework to prevent the facilitation of unauthorised entry and residence also based on initiatives from
France. Both initiatives have been published in the Official Journal (2). The Council asked the European
Parliament to deliver an Opinion on the two initiatives by 17 November 2000.

Regarding these texts, the European Council in Nice called for (cid:145)the last remaining problems concerning the
texts aimed at combating the traffic in human beings and illegal immigration be settled as soon as possible
in accordance with the explicit request made at Feira(cid:146).

7.

It is not for the Council to express any views on the United Kingdom(cid:146)s Immigration and Asylum Act.

(1) OJ C 269, 20.9.2000, p. 8.
(2) OJ C 253, 4.9.2000, pp. 1 and 6.