Activites

• 2004/08/06 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Directive 2004/82
  • OJ L 261 06.08.2004, p. 0024-0027
• #2579
• 2004/04/29 Council Meeting
• 2004/04/29 End of procedure in Parliament
• 2004/04/29 Act adopted by Council after consultation of Parliament
• 2004/04/20 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • 08058/2004 summary

    The Mixed Committee at Ministerial Level reached a common approach on the third version of the draft Directive, with a view to its adoption by the Council before 1 May 2004. This text was presented to the delegations at the "Justice and Home Affairs" Council meeting held on 30 March 2004. The amendments aim in particular to delete references to "third country nationals". The new version prefers to make reference to "passengers ". In addition, the new version of the text insists equally on the fact that the Directive should combat illegal immigration as well as improving border controls. In this context, and in respect of data transmission, the text stipulates that Member States shall take the necessary steps to establish an obligation for carriers to transmit at the request of the authorities responsible for carrying out checks on persons at external borders, by the end of check-in, information concerning the passengers they will carry to an authorised border crossing point through which these persons will enter the territory of a Member State. Another key element of the new version of the text concerns the respect of personal data. Personal data shall be communicated to the authorities responsible for carrying out checks on persons at external borders through which the passenger will enter the territory of a Member State, for the purpose of facilitating the performance of such checks with the objective of combating illegal immigration more effectively. The Council states that the Member States shall ensure that these data are collected by the carriers and transmitted electronically or, in case of failure, by any other appropriate means to the authorities responsible for carrying out border checks at the authorised border crossing point through which the passenger will enter the territory of a Member State. The authorities responsible for carrying out checks on persons at external borders shall save the data in a temporary file. After passengers have entered, these authorities shall delete the data, within 24 hours after transmission, unless the data are needed later for the purposes of exercising the statutory functions of the authorities responsible for carrying out checks on persons at external borders in accordance with national law and subject to data protection provisions under Directive 95/46/EC. The Council underlines that any other treatment would contravene the spirit of Directive 95/46/EC. Moreover, the new draft Directive states that : - Member States shall take the necessary steps to establish an obligation for carriers to transmit at the request of the authorities responsible for carrying out checks on persons at external borders, by the end of check-in, information concerning the passengers they will carry to an authorised border crossing point through which these persons will enter the territory of a Member State; - Member States shall take the necessary measures to impose sanctions on carriers which, as a result of fault, have not transmitted data or have transmitted incomplete or false data; - Member States shall take the necessary measures to comply with this Directive not later than twenty-four months after its adoption. Furthermore, the new version of the draft Directive includes two declarations one of which comes from the Commission which considers that this text must be interpreted in the light of its stated purposes, namely "to combat illegal immigration effectively and to improve border control". In its declaration, the Commission announces that it intends to propose by June 2004 a comprehensive legislative measure on data protection and exchanges of information between "law enforcement" authorities. The Commission would have preferred to await that measure before dealing piecemeal with law enforcement issues in this context. Lastly, the spirit of the proposal is in conformity with the previous proposal (please refer to the summary dated 25 February 2004).�

• 2004/04/13 Report referred back to committee
• 2004/04/06 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A5-0266/2004
• 2004/04/01 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • 06620/2004
• 2004/03/31 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament summary

    At the request of Mrs Anna TERRON (PES, E), the European Parliament has referred the report by Mr Ingo SCHMITT (EPP-ED, D) proposing to reject the Spanish initiative back to the committee responsible.�

• 2004/03/18 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A5-0211/2004
• 2003/04/10 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 2003/03/25 Initial legislative proposal published
  • 07161/2003 summary

    PURPOSE : to present the Spanish initiative with a view to adopting a Council Directive on the obligation of carriers to communicate passenger data. CONTENT : in order to combat illegal immigration effectively, it is essential that all Member States introduce provisions laying down obligations of carriers transporting third country nationals into the territory of the Member States. In addition, in order to ensure the greater effectiveness of this objective, the financial penalties currently provided for by the Member States for cases where carriers fail to meet their obligations should be harmonised to the extent possible, taking into account the differences in legal systems and practices between the Member States. This measure forms part of the general provisions aimed at curbing migratory flows and combating illegal immigration. The freedom of the Member States to retain or introduce additional measures or penalties for carriers, whether referred to in this Directive or not, should not be affected. Member States should ensure that in any proceedings brought against carriers which may result in the application of penalties, the rights of defence and the right of appeal against such decisions can be exercised effectively. The idea is to force carriers to transmit a series of information to the authorities responsible for carrying out border checks. This information shall concern in particular : a) at the time of boarding, information concerning the people they are preparing to carry; b) information on foreign nationals carried by them to the territory of the Member States and who, on the date stipulated on the travel ticket, have not returned to their country of origin or have not continued their journey to a third country. This information must be transmitted at the latest within 48 hours of the date stipulated for the return journey or for continuing the journey to a third country. The information shall comprise the number of the passport or travel document used, nationality, first name and family name and the date and place of birth. As regards the sanctions, it is stated that Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the sanctions applicable to carriers are dissuasive, effective and proportionate and that either: - the maximum amount of such sanctions is not less than EUR 5.000, or - the minimum amount of such sanctions is not less than EUR 3.000. Member States may adopt or retain, for carriers which do not comply with the obligations arising from the provisions of this Directive, other sanctions, such as immobilisation, seizure and confiscation of the means of transport, or temporary suspension or withdrawal of the operating licence. Member States shall ensure that their laws, regulations and administrative provisions stipulate that carriers against which proceedings are brought with a view to imposing penalties have effective rights of defence and appeal. The personal data shall be communicated to the authorities responsible for carrying out checks on persons at externalborders for the sole purpose of facilitating the performance of such checks. After the border checks on passengers have been completed, Member States shall delete the data transmitted.�

Documents

• Initial legislative proposal published: 07161/2003
• Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A5-0211/2004
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: 06620/2004
• Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A5-0266/2004
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: 08058/2004
• : Directive 2004/82
• : OJ L 261 06.08.2004, p. 0024-0027

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)