WRITTEN QUESTION E-2133/03 by Mario Borghezio (NI) to the Commission. Illegal immigration: US Department of State against Greece and Turkey.
Date: 2003-06-26
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Greece, Türkiye, action programme, cooperation policy, fight against crime, illegal migration, migration control, trafficking in human beings

20.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 70 E/77

Lastly, as for visa conditions (entry and stay) in preparation for enlargement, ten accession countries as
well as Bulgaria and Romania appear on the list (cid:1) annexed to Regulation (EC) No 539/2001, of the third
countries whose nationals are exempt from the visa requirement.

Ireland and the United Kingdom, which do not apply Regulation (EC) No 539/2001, have retained the visa
requirement for one or other of these third countries. Accession to the Union, which will mean that
nationals of the new Member States will benefit from the provisions of Community law relating to
freedom of movement for citizens of the Union, will require Ireland and the United Kingdom to put an
end to the visa requirement for such nationals.

After accession, stays by nationals of the new Member States on the territory of the present Member States
will be governed by the provisions of Community law relating to free movement, with account also being
taken of the relevant provisions in the Accession Treaty.

(1) OJ L 239, 22.9.2000.
(2) Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 of 15 March 2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in
from that

possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt
requirement, OJ L 81, 21.3.2001.

(3) OJ C 313, 16.12.2002.
(4) Point III.2(b) of the CCI.
(5) Point V.I.4. of the CCI.
(6) Point V.I.4. of the CCI.
(7) Council Decision 2002/44/EC of 20 December 2001 amending Part VII and Annex 12 to the Common Consular

Instructions and Annex 14a to the Common Manual, OJ L 20, 23.1.2002.

(2004/C 70 E/079)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2133/03

by Mario Borghezio (NI) to the Commission

(26 June 2003)

Subject: Illegal immigration: US Department of State against Greece and Turkey

The press agency Reuters reported on 12 June 2003 that the US Department of State had placed Greece
and Turkey, a Member State and a candidate for membership of the European Union respectively, on its
blacklist of countries implicated in international human trafficking.

As a result, Greece and Turkey could face sanctions from the US authorities from 1 October 2003.

Does the Commission not feel that the above clearly illustrates once again the EU’s inability to deal
effectively with illegal immigration?

What steps does the Commission intend to take as a matter of urgency against Greece and Turkey, which
are clearly facilitating the illegal trafficking in human beings into the EU and, in particular, towards the
Italian coast?

Answer given by Mr Vitorino on behalf of the Commission

(5 August 2003)

In June 2003, the State Department of the United States issued the third annual Trafficking in Persons
Report as required by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. This document is a report about the efforts of
governments to combat severe forms of trafficking in persons. Countries are placed in three different tiers,
15 countries (cid:1) among them Turkey and Greece (cid:1) are placed in tier 3. In this context the Honourable
Member raises a question on the activities of the Union as far as the fight against illegal immigration and
the smuggling of human beings is concerned.

C 70 E/78

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

20.3.2004

The expressions ‘smuggling’ and ‘trafficking’ are often used synonymously, although a clear distinction
should be drawn due to substantial differences. A clarification of terminology and definitions has been
made in the framework of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime and its
two accompanying protocols on smuggling and trafficking, which were signed in Palermo on
12-15 December 2001 (1). Furthermore, at Union level trafficking and smuggling are covered by different
legal instruments. On 19 July 2002, the Council adopted the Framework Decision of 19 July 2002 on
combating trafficking in human beings (2). Human smuggling, on the contrary, is addressed by the Council
Directive 2002/90/EC of 28 November 2002 defining the facilitation of unauthorised entry, transit and
residence (3) and by the Council Framework Decision of 28 November 2002 on the strengthening of the
penal framework to prevent the facilitation of unauthorised entry, transit and residence (3).

The definitions of both the United Nations and Union instruments make it clear that smuggling is
connected with the support of an illegal border crossing and illegal entry. Smuggling, therefore, always has
a transnational element. This is not necessarily the case with trafficking, where the key element is the
exploitative purpose. Trafficking involves the intent to exploit a person, in principal independent from the
question as to how the victim comes to the location where the exploitation takes place. This can involve,
in cases where borders are crossed, legal as well as illegal entry into the country of destination. Illegal
immigration can also cover parts of the trafficking situation, but has indeed a wider scope and relates more
to the general illegal entry and residence of persons. Illegal immigrants in a wider sense are, therefore, not
necessarily victims of traffickers (4).

Three action plans (cid:1) one on illegal immigration specifically, one on integrated border management and
one on return policy (cid:1) define the Union action and schedule for common measures in the fight against
illegal immigration. In preparation for the European Council in Thessaloniki on 19/20 June 2003, the
Commission has just presented the current state of play in this area (5). In addition, the Thessaloniki
European Council clarified in its conclusions the general roadmap for the ongoing activities. As already
emphasised in the Commission’s reply to the written questions E-3112/02 by Mr Tannock (6) and P-
0291/03 by Mr Pisicchio (7) illegal immigration by sea gets serious and continuous attention within the
Commission.

As far as trafficking in human beings is concerned Article 5 (3)
(‘Trafficking in human beings is
prohibited.’) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union clarifies that trafficking is a
human rights’ violation. Therefore, protection and assistance for the victims is a core element of each
policy addressing trafficking in human beings. This includes that first of all victims of human trafficking
have to be considered and treated as victims. Furthermore, the Brussels Declaration, which came out of the
European Conference on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Human Beings (cid:1) Global Challenges for
the 21st Century, of September 2002, must be seen as an important step of Union policy in this field. The
Brussels Declaration aims at
further developing European and international co-operation, concrete
measures, standards, best practices and mechanisms to prevent and combat trafficking in human beings.
The Commission’s work is already guided by this declaration which will form the basis of further proposals
at Union level, possibly structured by a communication and/or an action plan based on the opinion of an
experts group set up to that end.

All these activities will contribute to the improvement of the situation in all Member States and candidate
countries as regards both, smuggling and trafficking in human beings.

(1) Article 3 of the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air stipulates that ‘smuggling of
migrants’ means ‘the procurement, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit, of
the illegal entry of a person into a State Party of which the person is not a national or a permanent resident’.
Article 3 of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons defines ‘trafficking in persons’ as ‘the
recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or
other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability
or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another
person, for the purpose of exploitation’.

(2) OJ L 203, 1.8.2002.
(3) OJ L 328, 5.12.2002.
(4) COM(2001) 672 final.
(5) COM(2003) 323 final.
(6) OJ C 155 E, 3.7.2003, p. 92.
(7) OJ C 280 E, 21.11.2003, p. 46.