CZ PRESS NEWS MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR - bulding on firm foundations www.eu2009.cz
Interior Ministers discuss Guantánamo
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On 26th February 2009 the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council was held in Brussels. The Council was chaired by Minister of the Interior of the Czech Republic Ivan Langer.
The first issue on the agenda was the second generation of the Schengen Information System (SIS II). Ivan Langer reiterated that overcoming the crisis of the SIS II project is one of the most important priorities of the Czech Presidency. “The issue of the SIS II project has become an integral part of the Czech Presidency priorities. We are very serious about this and we pay to SIS II the greatest attention. We stick to the plan which we have agreed upon at the informal meeting in Prague. And we have already achieved tangible results in all its areas. For instance we have set up a team of national experts that coordinates the implementation of all the parts of the plan. We have also achieved progress in developing a back-up plan and we have called a special seminar for countries that are not connected to the system, which is scheduled to take place in March. I am glad that today we have agreed to adopt the final decision concerning the SIS II project in June at the latest. We will decide the future development of SIS II and the date of its full launch including all the new functions. What we have achieved over the span of just a few weeks in cooperation with other Member States and the European Commission fills me with optimism”, said Czech Justice Minister Ivan Langer.The Ministers were also informed about the developments in the construction of the Visa Information System. Minister Langer congratulated Switzerland on the  |
success of the recent referendum on the free movement of persons. He then expressed his wish for a similar success in the evaluation of Schengen and for lifting border controls at Swiss airports on 29th March.
During a working lunch the Interior Ministers addressed the issue of closing down the detention camp at Guantánamo for the first time. The Ministers discussed the question whether their countries are considering receiving persons from Guantánamo. They also considered the necessity and scope of a common approach of the EU Member States. “Today we have discussed this topic for the first time. We have agreed that a coordinated approach is needed. We aim to share a maximum of information and to act in a transparent way. The decision to receive these persons falls within the remit of each individual Member State. As we live in a system without internal border controls, all the Member States should know whether somebody has been accepted or not”, stated Minister Langer at the press conference. Ministers of the Interior also discussed the following issues - proposal for a Regulation establishing a European Asylum Support Office, illegal immigration in the central and eastern Mediterranean region, the situation of Iraqi refugees, the appointment of the Europol Direktor, Rational Anti-Drugs Policy . At the press conference Interior Minister Ivan Langer expressed his satisfaction with the meeting and with the results achieved. |
The Conference on Data Collection and People
Trafficking Took Place in Vienna
| Fighting people trafficking is one of the priorities of the Ministry of the Interior – not only during the Czech EU Presidency. That is why on February 23rd, 2009, the Minister of the Interior, Ivan Langer, together with the representatives of the Security Department of the Ministry of the Interior, took part in a conference in Vienna on data collection and people trafficking. “People trafficking is a phenomenon to which our eyes must not be shut. As Minister Fekter says, we need to have the same data to be able to develop a common strategy for fighting people trafficking. The Czech Presidency is going to continue this initiative. It is necessary to continue the work that has already been begun so that we keep “attacking the opponent’s goal.” The issue of people trafficking must also be viewed in the context of the current  |
economic crisis because a foreigner who loses his / her job in the host country can easily become a victim. Therefore, the Czech Republic is implementing the project of voluntary returns in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration, which should help these people,“ said Ivan Langer at the conference, which was also attended by Jacques Barrot, vice-president of the European Commission, and the Ministers of the Interior and Ministers of Justice for some of the EU member states.
The Czech Republic wants to contribute to the solution to this difficult task and, therefore, the following events focused on this issue will be taking place within the Czech EU Presidency:
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Interwiew With The Director Of The
Security Policy Department Martin Linhart
 How difficult is it to find a balance between safety and technologies on one side and the protection of privacy on the other side? Has there been any progress regarding this subject during the Czech Presidency? It is impossible to answer this question with one sentence because it concerns a very broad issue. And, for that matter, it is not our ambition to solve this issue generally and forever. However, we want the search for this balance to be a permanent and integral part of each new proposal. That is why expert groups are now working on the preparation of the criteria to be used for evaluating new initiatives in the EU. This principle should also be incorporated in the new five-year schedule of activities in the area of justice and home affairs, which will be accepted during the Swedish Presidency. However, looking for a balance only has sense with regard to particular instruments. The access to data voluntarily given by people to private subjects can be different from the access to data that is subject to strict protection. It also depends on the purpose for which the data should be processed and, last but not least, on the available alternatives.
Within the Czech EU Presidency there are a lot of activities focused on the balance between freedom, privacy and safety while considering the individual issues. We can mention, for example, the preparation of the European PNR system (Passenger Name Record – processing data on air travel passengers for the purpose of detection and prevention of terrorism and serious crime) or the evaluation of how the USA fulfils its obligations regarding personal data protection when using records of bank transactions (SWIFT). The Internet is an open medium. How do you want to prevent it from being used for terrorist purposes - for example, for the preparation of attacks? Are you preparing a joint procedure with the other EU member states? What in particular are you preparing? The Internet – and modern technologies in general – is an example of the fact that mankind has so far misused basically all scientific progress. The Internet is used for spreading and sharing a lot of information. The downside to it is that this information includes terrorist propaganda. The fact that it is not easy to restrict these activities was seen by the British EU Presidency, which wanted to remove instruction for the preparation of improvised weapons and |
explosives. This plan also failed with regard to human rights. It is obvious that any measures taken against cyber-terrorism must be conceived in a complex way and they must include legislative steps as well as organizational (information sharing, making contacts) and technical activities (using the results of applied research). The Czech Republic has, for example, in a very active way – as one of the few “new” EU member states – joined the Check-the-Web project, whose aim is to concentrate information on many aspects of terrorist propaganda and to share it with other member countries (current trends, terrorists’ methods, translation of concerned websites and videos, etc.). The Czech Republic has, as the EU Presidential country, currently initiated activities concerning the issue of illegal and undesirable content of Internet servers in third countries. This issue will obviously require complex attention for a period of time significantly longer than the term of the Czech Presidency. One of the milestones in this process could be the specialised seminar which should take place in Prague or Brussels probably in June, 2009. As well as the EU countries, the US and Canada delegations have announced their participation. The second round of evaluating the member states’ readiness to react on terrorist attacks is now in progress. How is the Czech Republic doing? Where do you see some imperfections? The mission took place in the Czech Republic in June, 2008, which was before the beginning of our Presidency. The subject of the second round of the evaluation missions was the issue of handling the consequences of a successful terrorist attack (so called consequence management). The Czech Republic did well in this evaluation. Its well-functioning integrated rescue system was especially highly rated. We can point out two recommendations that came from the mission:
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