
EU asylum return focus expands police scrutiny
EU interior ministers agreed to start legislative talks with the EU parliament to expand the scope of an asylum database, Eurodac, to include migrants and stateless people.
Thursday
22nd Dec 2016

EU interior ministers agreed to start legislative talks with the EU parliament to expand the scope of an asylum database, Eurodac, to include migrants and stateless people.

Estonia has voted to ban entry to foreigners deemed guilty of human rights abuses in a law targeting Russia and inspired by the Magnitsky case.

Lack of lawyers and other staff has caused logjams on asylum claims, which particularly hurt children, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency told MEPs.
A German-led group of EU states is trying to block plans for greater tax transparency, amid the restart of an iconic whistleblower case.
The European Court of Justice will examine the case of a Syrian family who wants to go to Belgium. Its decision will apply to all EU countries.
Denmark's government and political parties are examining a draft agreement that would secure links with Europol starting May 2017, in a follow-up to a referendum last year that rejected full membership into the EU law enforcement agency.

EU lawmakers reached an agreement with member states on new draft rules to ID check every person leaving and entering the EU.

Negotiators behind a bill to tighten the EU directive on firearms are hoping to agree a deal, but signs are emerging of possible deadlock.

The European joint police agency said that the group had shifted focus to so-called soft targets, because indiscriminate attacks on ordinary people have shown most successful in terrorising public opinion.

An anti-terror bill is likely to sail through the EU parliament in December, despite serious concerns raised by rights groups over its broad understanding of what constitutes terrorism.
The EU Commission wants bills on terrorism, firearms and systematic ID checks on every EU national wrapped up before the end of the year.
Co-legislators disagree with EU commission plans to ban semi-automatic weapons that resemble their military grade counterparts.
The British government has announced it will opt in to the EU police agency's new regulation after May 2017
Austria, Denmark, Germany, Norway, and Sweden will be allowed to extend internal border checks following approval by the EU council, representing member states.
Europe and the US need an "intelligence hub” to fight terrorism, with grand ideas on EU military integration unlikely to bear fruit, Germany’s former spy chief has said.
Romania and Morocco have the highest number of expats in prison in the EU while Lithuania has the highest percentage of their expat population in jail.
Poland has accused the European Commission of lacking objectivity and understanding of the intricacies of the Polish legal system.
Scores of children are sleeping rough on the ruins of the Calais jungle after French authorities declared the end of evacuation.
UN allegations of unlawful returns of asylum seekers from Greece to Turkey mark another blow to the credibility of the EU-Turkey migrant swap deal.

Privacy advocacy group Digital Rights Ireland is challenging Privacy Shield at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, it has been revealed.

Austria, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Norway granted three-month extensions on border controls despite fall in migrant numbers.
EU security commissioner Julian King says around 2,500 Islamic State militants in the Mosul area are from Europe, and they could flee if the city falls.
Plans to extend internal border controls in Austria, Denmark, and Germany after a mid-November deadline were met with scepticism by the EU commission.

MEPs in the civil liberties committee threaten to take the commission to court unless it takes action over continuing visa restrictions the US places on five EU states.

Member states are yet to launch an EU PNR scheme despite the urgency in the lead up to its adoption.
A proposal to punish women who have abortions in Poland has forced EU institutions to question their duty to act when women's rights are at risk.
EU states have agreed to grant visa-free travel, likely by the end of the year, to Georgian nationals, leaving Kosovo, Turkey and Ukraine in the queue.

Germany orders the US firm to stop collecting data "with immediate effect" and Italy wants details on the information it gathers on users.

Intelligence agencies in Europe launched an "interactive operative real-time information system" in July to collect data on jihadist suspects, EUobserver has learned.
Neelie Kroes held a secret offshore company but did not declare it during her 10 years as an EU commissioner, leaked documents from Bahamas show.
MEPs have urged Sweden to end border checks with Denmark and to take better care of unaccompanied refugee children.