I thank the Chairman for inviting me to address the committee.
I welcome the opportunity to discuss with members of the committee the agenda for the forthcoming Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting, the first such meeting under the Greek Presidency. This is my second pre-Council discussion with the committee and Members may recall that in our previous discussion in December there was an extremely full agenda, with over 20 items for consideration in addition to "A" items - items effectively passed without debate.
On this occasion, the agenda is less demanding. Members may wish to note that the discussion on the first day will focus on immigration, asylum and operational matters, while the second day will concentrate on what are regarded by many administrations as justice matters. The committee has already been provided with information notes on the matters listed on the agenda, but I would like to comment briefly on the matters tabled for discussion. I understand one of the items listed, the proposed measure on the status of third country nationals who are long-term residents, will not be discussed.
The proposal for a Council directive on minimum standards for the qualification and status of third country nationals and stateless persons as refugees, or as persons who might otherwise need international protection, is at an advanced stage of discussion and is expected to be adopted during the Greek Presidency. As its name suggests, it sets out the eligibility criteria for both refugee status in the European Union and the entitlements of those who qualify for that protection. Since it is a Title IV measure, it does not automatically apply to Ireland, but on this occasion we have opted into it and at this stage there are no outstanding issues of concern to us.
In contrast, neither Ireland nor the United Kingdom has opted in to the proposed Council directive on the right to family reunification. The latter establishes the right of legally resident third country nationals to be joined by their families.
We will listen with interest to the Commission's information on burden-sharing and the management of external borders and related matters. We look forward to the results of the Commission studies in the area.
The item on passport controls at Schengen entry points concerns the stamping of passports in certain circumstances. It does not apply to Ireland as we do not participate in the borders aspects of the Schengen system.
I attended the London conference last November on organised crime in south-eastern Europe and I welcome, therefore, the open debate at the Council on fighting organised crime in the western Balkans. It is my intention to keep up the momentum generated by that conference. I met Lord Ashdown - Paddy Ashdown, former leader of the Liberal Democrats - the United Nations High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the London conference and I invited him to send a delegation to Ireland to examine the workings of the Criminal Assets Bureau. He accepted, and the delegation, which will comprise seven UN high level experts, will be here on 12 and 13 March.
Discussions on the second day of the Council meeting will cover a proposed European Union-United States of America agreement and three proposed framework decisions. The EU-US agreement covers judicial co-operation in criminal matters and extradition and derives from the immediate post-11 September period. The agreement is intended to build on, rather than replace, existing bilateral agreements and the emerging agreement is unlikely to cause difficulty for Ireland because the issues are already covered in our bilateral agreement with the United States.
The Presidency hopes to agree a general approach on the proposed framework decision on combating racism and xenophobia. Ireland's position in negotiations has been to protect our constitutional right of freedom of expression, while at the same time ensuring that hate speech and documents are criminalised and subject to effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties.
The intention of the proposed framework decision on the application of the principle of mutual recognition to financial penalties is that a fine imposed in one member state can be executed and collected in another. The discussion will focus on resolution of outstanding issues, especially in relation to an agreed list of offences and the question of dual criminality.
The last measure tabled is a proposed framework decision which will require member states to criminalise attacks against information systems, which has been under discussion for a number of months. Ireland supports the general thrust of the proposal, which is an important element of the European Union's drive to tackle cyber-crime.
The agenda for the Council also includes a number of "A" items which will be adopted by the Council without discussion. Material on these items has been included in the information notes provided to the committee, but I do not propose to offer comments on those items at this point.
I would like to reiterate my commitment to enhanced Oireachtas scrutiny of the EU agenda. This pre-Council discussion serves a valuable purpose and I look forward to any comments and queries in relation to the agenda.