PURPOSE: the organisation of joint flights for the removal of illegal immigrants

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Council Decision on the organisation of joint flights for removals from the territory of two or more Member States, of third-country nationals who are subjects of individual removal orders.

CONTENT: The purpose of this Council Decision is to co-ordinate joint removals by air, from two or more Member States, of third-country nationals who are the subject of individual removal orders. In order to enact the objective’s of the Decision, the following measures have been provided for:

- Joint flights must be conducted properly and in accordance with the 1950 European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, the United National Convention against torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment, the 1951 Geneva Convention on the status of refugees, the Convention on the rights of the child and the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union.

- For the sake of clarity and consistency a number of related terms have been defined. They are: third-country national, organising Member State, participating Member State, joint flight, removal operations, joint removals by air and escorts.

- Member States should appoint a national authority responsible for organising and/or participating in joint flights.

- In cases where a Member State decides to organise a joint flight for the removal of third-country nationals it shall inform the national authority of the other Member State. The national authority of the organising Member State will adopt the necessary measure ensuring that the joint flight is conducted properly. It will also be responsible for practical measures such as selecting the air carrier as well as related costs and relevant contractual obligations. In addition, the national authority shall request and receive information from the third-countries of transit and destination, the authorisations required for the implementation of the joint flight and make the appropriate arrangements for the organisation of the joint flight with the participating Member State.

- The participating Member State will be responsible for specifying the number of third country nationals, which need to be removed and provide a sufficient number of escorts for each third-country national to be removed.

- Under common arrangements each participating Member State must ensure that each third-country national and the escorts hold valid documents and inform their diplomatic and consular representations in the third-countries of transit and destination of the arrangements concerning the joint flight.

- Attached to the Decision, in Annex form, are Common Guidelines on security provisions for joint removals. These common guidelines concern, requirements for returnees, requirements for escorts, transportation to the airport and stay at the airport, check-in, boarding and security check before take-off, security measures on board the aircraft, use of coercive measures, medical personnel and interpreter and lastly documentation and monitoring of removal operations.

Denmark will not be participating in the adoption of this Decision. The United Kingdom and Ireland will be participating as will the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway.

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 7 August 2004

Decision 2004/573
OJ L 261 06.08.2004, p. 0028-0035

Although this proposal has been adopted by the Council, it has been withdrawn as the European Parliament refused to give its opinion on the draft Decision at the plenary session in April 2004. (Please refer to the summary dated 20 April 2004).

The Council adopted the following conclusions on giving practical effect to the draft Council Decision on the organisation of joint flights for removals, from the territory of two or more Member States, of third-country nationals who are the subject of individual removal orders. It notes that the use of joint flights is an effective and humane way to return persons illegally resident in the territory of EU Member States to third countries, in full respect of applicable international and Community instruments. It recalls that joint flights already take place among some Member States as a means of sharing costs, making better use of resources and demonstrating common action in the fight against illegal immigration.

In addition, the Council urges:

–an increase in the use of joint flights as a means of demonstrating the commitment of the EU in relation to joint action on returns; increasing the rate of returns from the EU; and making more effective use of resources. In particular, recognising the practical difficulties of organising common removal operations, the Council encourages Member States in close geographic proximity to organise and share return flights where such collaboration would bring about economies of scale or otherwise confer mutual benefits on participants;

–those Member States currently organising joint flights or planning to organise joint removal operations to consider inviting participation of other Member States in line with the procedures set out in the above draft Council Decision. In particular, the Council encourages Member States with existing expertise in this area to share this experience with the new Member States and those with little previous experience in the area of joint return operations;

–those Member States with extensive experience of joint flights to share their knowledge and experience with other Member States through all the appropriate EU fora. In particular, where Member States have established formal guidelines and practical rules in this area, they are invited to bring them to the attention of the appropriate EU fora, in particular to upload existing documentation in the section on return of the ICONET system.

Lastly, the Council calls on the Commission:

–to develop the new ICONET system to make it available as a secure facility for Member States to communicate with each other and share information about the organisation of joint removal operations;

–to consider the possibility of Community funding for joint flights and the further development of best practices in this area; and

- to explore with Member States ways for the Border Management Agency to provide the necessary assistance for organising joint flights. The support of the Immigration Liaison Officers (ILO) network, where appropriate and in accordance with Member States' national functions for ILOs, might also be explored.

The Member States are called upon to report regularly to the Council and to the Commission on joint flights carried out by them and to share the information and experience for the benefit of all Member States.

The Council's request to include the Italian initiative on the organisation of joint flights for removals of third country nationals who are the subjects of individual removal orders in the April 2004 Plenary Session as a matter of urgency has been rejected by the European Parliament. Therefore, the initiative has been withdrawn.

To recall, the Parliament already rejected this initiative during its March plenary session. The Parliament viewed collective returns as a "deplorable practice", which should be resorted to only by way of exception. The report was also critical of the fact that the 'common guidelines' on the state of health of returnees, a code of conduct applicable to escorts and the use of coercive measures were merely listed in an annex to the proposal - which was in no way binding - rather than in the proposal itself.

Debate in Parliament

Debate in Parliament

14205/2003

A5-0091/2004

A5-0091/2004

2538

14205/2003
OJ C 223 19.09.2004, p. 0003-0005

12025/2003
OJ C 223 19.09.2003, p. 0003-0005

12025/2003

11769/2003