Centre for Information, Discussion and Exchange on the crossing of borders and immigration CIREFI

The European Parliament rejected the Council's draft conclusions on CIREFI activities. In her report, which was adopted by the European Parliament in plenary, Mrs d'ANCONA (PSE, NL) decried the method used to consult the European Parliament on these conclusions which, she considered, should be seen as governed by Article K.6 of the Treaty on European Union, implying that the European Parliament needed to be consulted. She stated, in this respect, that the Commission's right of initiative was a fundamental element and that the Commission had a political obligation to take a more active approach in this area by proposing binding texts and submitting them to Parliament for consultation. Pointing out that Parliament was very poorly informed about CIREFI activities, she noted that the focus of the Centre's work was gradually shifting towards the fight against illegal immigration, to the exclusion of all else. She then called for 2 observers (one appointed by the Commission and the other by the European Parliament) to attend CIREFI meetings in the future. She considered that data on immigrants and asylum seekers compiled by EUROSTAT might duplicate the data compiled by the IOM, the UNHCR, the Member States, the SIS or even EUROPOL. In addition, the CIREFI provisions governing the collection and processing of information and personal data were imprecise and confused. Finally, she called for the Centre's modus operandi to be revised so that it could become a body capable of helping to promote joint decisions and global policies for preventing and controlling illegal immigration.�