Legal provisions of JAI(2003)8 - Initiative of Greece with a view to adopting a Council Regulation on the creation of an immigration liaison officers network

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Article 1

1. In this Regulation 'immigration liaison officer' means a representative of one of the Member States, posted abroad by the immigration service or other competent authorities in order to establish and maintain contacts with the authorities of the host country with a view to contributing to the prevention and combating of illegal immigration, the return of illegal immigrants and the management of legal migration.

2. For the purpose of this Regulation, as immigration liaison officers shall also be considered the liaison officers who are dealing with immigration issues as part of their duties.

3. The immigration liaison officers could be posted to the national consular authorities of Member States in third countries or to the relevant authorities of other Member States, but also to the competent authorities of the third countries, as well as to international organisations for a reasonable time period to be determined by the posting Member State.

4. This Regulation is without prejudice to the tasks of immigration liaison officers within the framework of their responsibilities under national law, policies or procedures or under special agreements concluded with the host country or international organisations.

Article 2

1. Each Member State shall ensure that its immigration liaison officers establish and maintain direct contacts with the competent authorities in the host country and any appropriate organisation within the host country, with a view to facilitating and expediting the collection and exchange of information.

2. Immigration liaison officers shall collect information for use either at the operational level, or at a strategic level, or both. Such information shall in particular concern issues such as:

- flows of illegal immigrants originating from or transiting through the host country,

- routes followed by those flows of illegal immigrants in order to reach the territories of the Member States,

- their modus operandi, including the means of transport used, the involvement of intermediaries, etc.,

- the existence and activities of criminal organisations involved in the smuggling of immigrants,

- incidents and events that may be or become the cause for new developments with respect to flows of illegal immigrants,

- methods used for counterfeiting or falsifying identity documents and travel documents,

- ways and means to assist the authorities in host countries in preventing illegal immigration flows originating from or transiting through their territories,

- ways and means to facilitate the return and repatriation of illegal immigrants to their countries of origin,

- legislation and legal practices relevant to the issues referred to above,

- information transmitted via the early warning system.

3. Immigration liaison officers shall also be entitled to render assistance in establishing the identity of third country nationals and in facilitating their return to their country of origin.

4. Member States shall ensure that their immigration liaison officers carry out their tasks within the framework of their responsibilities and in compliance with the provisions, including those on the protection of personal data, laid down in their national laws and in any agreements or arrangements concluded with host countries or international organisations.

Article 3

1. Member States shall systematically and without delay inform one another, the Council and the Commission of their secondments of immigration liaison officers, including a description of their duties. The Commission shall provide a collection of this information to the Council and Member States.

2. Each Member State shall also inform the others of its intentions as regards the secondment of immigration liaison officers to third countries, so as to allow the other Member States to express an interest in concluding a cooperative agreement with the Member State concerned on such secondment, as referred to in Article 5.

Article 4

1. Member States shall ensure that their immigration liaison officers posted to the same third countries or regions constitute local or regional cooperation networks among each other. Within the framework of such networks immigration liaison officers shall, in particular:

- meet regularly and whenever necessary,

- exchange information and practical experience,

- coordinate positions to be adopted in contacts with commercial carriers, when appropriate,

- attend joint specialised training courses, when appropriate,

- organise information sessions and training courses for members of the diplomatic and consular staff of the missions of the Member States in the host country, when appropriate,

- adopt common approaches as to methods of collecting and reporting strategically relevant information, including risk analyses, to the competent authorities of the sending Member States,

- contribute to the biannual reports of their common activities, which are drafted in accordance with Article 6(1),

- set up regular contacts with similar networks in the host country and in neighbouring third countries, as appropriate.

2. Representatives of the European Commission shall be entitled to participate in the meetings organised within the framework of immigration liaison officers network, although if operational considerations so require, meetings may be held in the absence of a representative of the European Commission. Other bodies and authorities may also be invited, as appropriate.

3. The Member State holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union shall take the initiative to hold such meetings. If the Member State holding the Presidency is not represented in the country or region, it is up to the Member State serving as acting Presidency to take the initiative to hold the meeting.

Article 5

1. Member States may bilaterally or multilaterally agree that immigration liaison officers who are posted to a third country or international organisation by a Member State shall also look after the interests of one or more other Member States.

2. Member States may also agree that their immigration liaison officers shall share certain tasks among each other.

Article 6

1. The Member State holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union or, if this Member State is not represented in the country or region, the Member State serving as acting Presidency shall draw up by the end of each semester a report on the activities of immigration liaison officers networks in which it has a representative, as well as on the situation in the host country, in matters relating to illegal immigration to the Council and the Commission.

2. Such reports shall be drawn up in accordance with a model and a format established by the Commission.

3. These reports will constitute an essential form of information for the preparation, at the end of each Presidency, of an evaluation report to be submitted to the Council, and drafted by the Commission, on the existing situation in every third country, where Member States' immigration liaison officers are posted.

4. The Commission shall, on the basis of the abovementioned reports include a factual summary in its annual report on the development of a common policy on illegal immigration, smuggling and trafficking of human beings, external borders and the return of illegal residents. When presenting its evaluation to the Council, the Commission may make such proposals or recommendations as it deems appropriate.

Article 7

This Regulation is without prejudice to the provisions on Consular cooperation at a local level contained in the Common Consular Instructions on visas for the diplomatic missions and consular posts(7).

Article 8

This Regulation shall enter into force on 5 January 2004.


This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in the Member States in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community.