From the Brussels office
8 Jun 07
Updates on a crackdown on employers of illegal immigrants; and law enforcement data-sharing proposals
Crackdown on employers of illegal immigrants
On 16 May the European Commission took further steps to harmonise the criminal law sanctions used by member states to enforce Community law concerning the employment of non-EU citizens staying illegally in the EU. Part of a broader package of measures, the sanctions foreseen against employers include fines and making employers liable for the return costs for each individual illegally employed person. In addition, employers’ business premises could be closed; businesses could become ineligible for public works contracts or public subsidies; and they could be liable to repay public funding already received. However the Commission has not proposed actual minimum levels of sanction, simply that sanctions should be “effective, proportionate and dissuasive”. The UK and Ireland will have the choice to opt in to the proposal, which should be taken by the end of the summer.
Law enforcement data-sharing proposals under attack
The Treaty of Prüm, formally called the Convention on the stepping up of cross-border co-operation, particularly in combating terrorism, cross-border crime and illegal migration, is to be repackaged as an EU legislative instrument. It seeks to intensify and accelerate the exchange of information between law enforcement authorities, to allow data such as DNA, fingerprints and vehicle registrations to be compared and exchanged. Member states appear to have accepted the objections on privacy grounds of the European Data Protection Supervisor, Peter Hustinx, to an earlier proposal that would have allowed intelligence held on suspected criminals by one member state to be available to law enforcement authorities in other states. It seems likely however that the debate around the incorporation of the Treaty into EU law will keep alive the debate around data sharing in criminal matters.