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Le point de vue de Pascal Boniface

POZSONY. Illegális toborzási kísérleteket észlelt az Általános Egészségbiztosító. Az állami tulajdonú egészségbiztosító több ízben is törvénytelenségekre lett figyelmes az idei biztosítóváltási kampány folyamán.

Royaume-Uni, Angleterre, Ecosse, Irlande… L'autre rive de la Manche révèle, lorsqu'on s'y penche, une multitude de termes géographiques qu'on a parfois du mal à remettre à leur place. Ce que l'on sait encore moins, c'est qu'au Royaume-Uni, les régions – ou plutôt les "nations constitutives" selon le terme officiel – bénéficient d'une autonomie croissante depuis la fin des années 1990. Quelles sont ces nations et quels pouvoirs leurs sont dévolus ? Toute l'Europe vous éclaire sur la question.

Le chef du gouvernement Édouard Philippe a annoncé, mardi, que la réforme du code du travail se fera par ordonnances. Mais que signifie "légiférer par ordonnances" ? Explications.

Macedonians were overwhelmed with joy when male handball team Vardar became European title-winners by defeating Paris Saint-Germain in the nail-biting final of the EHF Champions League.

ZSELÍZ. A hagyományos programok mellett új kísérőrendezvényeket és több mint ezer fellépőt ígér az Országos Népművészeti Fesztivál, amelyet idén ismét eredeti színhelyén, Zselízen rendeznek meg június 9. és 11. között - tájékoztatott Juhász Eszter, a fesztivál programigazgatója kedden.

Emmanuel Macron a récemment été épinglé pour sa blague de mauvais goût sur les "kwassa-kwassa", ces embarcations qui vont des Comores à Mayotte. Ce n'est pas la première fois qu'il fait une bourde au sujet de territoires d'Outre-mer.

On 9 June 2017, the Council agreed a general approach on the proposal for a European travel information and authorisation system (ETIAS). The general approach constitutes the Council's position for negotiations with the European Parliament.

"ETIAS will help improve our security and protect our citizens. It will require all those who do not need a visa to be checked before they travel to the Schengen area. Anyone posing a risk can be prevented from coming."

Maltese Presidency of the Council

ETIAS will allow for advance checks and, if necessary, deny travel authorisation to visa-exempt third-country nationals travelling to the Schengen area. It will help improve internal security, prevent illegal immigration, limit public health risks and reduce delays at the borders by identifying persons who may pose a risk in one of these areas before they arrive at the external borders.

Functioning of the system

The Council position includes the following elements.

The system will apply to visa-exempt third country nationals, as well as those who are exempt from the airport transit visa requirement. They will need to obtain a travel authorisation before their trip, via an online application.

The information submitted in each application will be automatically processed against other EU databases to determine whether there are grounds to refuse a travel authorisation. When no hits or elements requiring further analysis are identified, the travel authorisation will be issued automatically within a short time. This is expected to be the case for the large majority of applications.

If there is a hit or an element requiring analysis, the application will be handled manually by the competent authorities. In this case, the ETIAS central unit will first check that the data recorded in the application file corresponds to the data triggering a hit. When it does or when doubt remains, the application will be processed manually by the ETIAS national unit of the responsible member state. The issuing or refusal of an application which has triggered a hit will take place no later than 96 hours after the application is submitted or, if additional information has been requested, 96 hours after this information has been received.

Before boarding, air carriers, sea carriers and international carriers transporting groups overland by coach will need to check whether third country nationals subject to the travel authorisation requirement are in possession of a valid travel authorisation.

The travel authorisation will not provide an automatic right of entry or stay; it is the border guard who will take the final decision.

A travel authorisation will be valid for three years or until the end of validity of the travel document registered during application, whichever comes first.

OSTRAVA. A nyolcszoros olimpiai bajnok Usain Bolt idén is rajthoz áll Ostravában a Golden Spike elnevezésű atlétikaversenyen.

On 8 June, the Council adopted its position on the proposed Directive on countering money laundering by criminal law.

The objective of the proposed directive is to: 

• establish minimum rules concerning the definition of criminal offences and sanctions relating to money laundering;
• remove obstacles to cross-border judicial and police cooperation by setting common provisions to improve the investigation of money laundering related offences;
• bring EU rules in line with international obligations, in particular those arising from the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism (Warsaw Convention) and the relevant Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations.

"To conduct terrorist or other criminal activities, one needs money. With these new rules, our objective is to disrupt and effectively cut off the financial sources of criminals. It is a key dimension of the EU fight against terrorism and that is why the Maltese presidency has set a high priority on this file.  We now hope that the European Parliament will be in a position to engage in negotiations with the Council in a timely manner, in the context of the ordinary legislative procedure."

Maltese Presidency

The compromise reached by the Council achieves a balance between the positions expressed by member states whilst respecting the main objectives of the initial proposal.

Discussions at the Council focused in particular on:

• the scope of the definition of a "criminal activity" (Article 2(1)) where the Council compromise reaffirms that all categories of offences defined by the Council of Europe Warsaw Convention are covered as predicate offences, while references to existing EU legislation defining specific offences are also included to ensure that they are considered within the respective category. Furthermore, to address the growing threat of cybercrime, the Council agreed that this category should be also added in the definition of criminal activity.  
• the introduction of a criminalisation obligation for self-laundering (Article 3(3))
• the link with the PIF directive, which provides specific rules for money laundering of property derived from PIF offences (Article  1(2)) where the Council underlines that member states can transpose these rules through a single comprehensive framework on money laundering at national level;

Background

The proposal was tabled by the Commission in December 2016 together with a proposal for a regulation on the mutual recognition of freezing and confiscation orders. Both texts are part of the EU plan to strengthen the fight against terrorist financing and financial crimes. The overall objective is to further disrupt the sources of revenue used by terrorist organisations, as well as to improve the tracing of terrorists through financial movements.

Next steps

The Council and the Parliament will enter into negotiations on the final text as soon as the latter has decided on its position.

On 8 June, the member states which are part of the enhanced cooperation on the creation of the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) agreed on legislation setting out the details of its functioning and role.

The EPPO will have the authority, under certain conditions, to investigate and prosecute EU-fraud and other crimes affecting the Union's financial interests. It will bring together European and national law-enforcement efforts to counter EU fraud.

The EPPO central office will be based in Luxembourg. The date on which the EPPO will assume its investigative and prosecutorial tasks will be set by the Commission on the basis of a proposal from the European Chief Prosecutor once the EPPO has been set up. This date will not be earlier than three years after the entry into force of this Regulation.

Functioning of the EPPO

The EPPO will work as a collegial structure composed of two levels. The central level will consist of a European chief prosecutor, who will have overall responsibility for the office. The decentralised level will be made up of European delegated prosecutors located in the member states, who will be in charge of the day-to-day conduct of criminal investigations and prosecutions in line with the regulation and legislation of that member state.

The central level will monitor, direct and supervise all investigations and prosecutions  undertaken by European Delegated Prosecutors, thereby ensuring a consistent investigation and prosecution policy across Europe.

Although its competence is limited to the participating member states, the EPPO will cooperate with the other EU non-participating member states. In this respect, the Council invited the Commission to reflect on submitting appropriate proposals to ensure the effectiveness of this judicial cooperation.

Enhanced cooperation

The enhanced cooperation procedure was launched on 3 April 2017 following the registration of the lack of unanimous agreement on the proposal.

Up until now, 18 member states have joined the enhanced cooperation: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia.

Moreover, another 2 member states, namely Italy and Austria have expressed their intention to join the enhanced cooperation.

Other member states may join the cooperation at any time.

Background

The Union and its member states sometimes face complex cases of, for example, fraud against EU structural funds or large-scale cross-border VAT fraud. In those cases, national criminal investigators and prosecutors often lack the tools required to act quickly and efficiently across borders.

The EPPO will address these shortcomings and enhance the fight against offences affecting the Union's financial interests, thereby  contributing to a stronger and better protected Union budget.

The EPPO will complement the work of OLAF and Eurojust, which are not equipped to investigate or prosecute individual criminal cases.

Next steps

Prior to the final adoption of the EPPO regulation, the European Parliament's consent is required to be sought. It is expected that this could happen before the summer break, allowing for the final adoption of the text in October.

Under the "consent procedure", the European Parliament has the power to accept or reject a legislative proposal by an absolute majority vote, but cannot amend it.

Der Verteilschlüssel für Flüchtlinge innerhalb der EU sorgt für Ärger.

POZSONY. Lassan bár, de egyre inkább kitolódik az adószabadság napja, amely az idén június 5-én volt. A polgárok számára ez egyáltalán nem kedvező jelzés, hiszen azt mutatja: adóterheik egyre inkább növekednek – mutatott rá Farkas Iván, a Magyar Közösség Pártja gazdaságpolitikai alelnöke.

Milorad Dodik, the president of Bosnia’s Serb-dominated entity Republika Srpska, said that the use of schoolbooks teaching about the Srebrenica genocide and the siege of Sarajevo will never be allowed.

EU Null Hirn Geschwätz, über Betrugs-, und Show Wahlen in Albanien:  Ihr endloses Geschwätz über den Konsens „This is something that Vlahutin and all here jetset humanist colleagues fail to truly appreciate. Their endless babble about consensus, the inclusion of the opposition, full representation, etc., etc. has led to a political situation in which there is literally no choice.„ 2012: „A document obtained by BIRN shows that OLAF is investigating complaints against a tender held in May by the EU Delegation in Tirana.“ What Does Vote Buying Mean? By Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei, 56 min. ago On Monday, EU Ambassador Romana Vlahutin called upon Albanian citizens not to “sell their vote” […]

SZÉKESFEHÉRVÁR. Erkölcsileg elfogadhatatlannak nevezte az Egyesült Államok kilépését a párizsi klímaegyezményből a köztársasági elnök kedden a székesfehérvári Tóparti Gimnázium és Művészeti Szakközépiskola diákjainak tartott előadásában.

The Council today adopted new rules to allow consumers who paid for online content services in their home country to access them when visiting another country within the EU.

"Europeans travelling within the EU will no longer be cut off from online services such as films, sporting broadcasts, music, e-books or games they have paid for back home. Together with the ending of roaming charges, this is important progress in creating a digital single market which benefits everyone."

Maltese Presidency
Access to subscriptions from abroad at no extra charge

The new regulation will improve competitiveness by encouraging innovation in online services and attracting more consumers. It is one of the objectives of the digital single market strategy to create a truly internal market for digital content and services.

It will apply to all online content services which are provided against payment of money. Free to air services, such as those provided by certain public broadcasters, will have the option of benefiting from the regulation provided that they verify the country of residence of their subscribers.

Current obstacles to cross-border portability of online services arise from the fact that the rights for the transmission of content protected by copyright such as audio-visual works as well as rights for premium sporting events are often licensed on a territorial basis. Online service providers may choose to serve specific markets only.

The provision of cross-border portability will not be subject to any additional charges.

Verification of member state of residence

The new measures will ensure equal access from abroad to content legally acquired or subscribed to in the member state of residence when on holidays, business trips or limited student stays.

To avoid abuses, service providers will verify the subscribers' member state of residence. The verifications will be carried out in compliance with EU data protection rules.

The provider will be authorised to cease the access to the online service when the subscriber cannot prove his/her member state of residence.

The means of verification will be reasonable, proportionate and effective. It will consist of using no more than two criteria from a list of verification means. These may include an identity card, a bank account or credit card; the address of installation of the device for the supply of services; the payment by the subscriber of a licence fee for other services; an official billing or postal address; etc.

But copyright holders will have the possibility of authorising the use of their content without the obligation to verify the subscriber's residence.

Entry into force

The new rules will start to apply in the first quarter of 2018 (nine months after its publication in the EU's Official Journal).

Today's decision follows an agreement reached on 7 February 2017 between the Maltese Presidency and the European Parliament. The Parliament voted its first reading position on 18 May 2017.

The regulation was adopted at a meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council, without discussion.

Background

The increased use of portable devices such as tablets and smartphones facilitates access to the use of online content services regardless of the consumers' location.

There is rapidly growing demand on the part of consumers for access to content and innovative online services not only in their own country but also when they are away from home. As a result,  barriers that hamper access and use of online content services within the single market need to be eliminated.

At the end of 2015, 63.5 million people were displaced.[1] Just 12 months earlier that figure was at 59.5 million, meaning that the number jumped by 4 million people in a year[2]. Every minute, 24 people were forced to flee in 2015[3]. The crises from which they flee are becoming more complex and protracted with displacement lasting an average of 26 years[4].

In 2015, over 1 million refugees and migrants arrived on the shores of Europe – over 4000 were feared drowned[5] – and 1,000 more people were lost at sea in 2016[6]. Despite these shocking statistics, the burden of the global refugee crisis on Europe is marginal. 86% of all refugees are hosted in developing countries, and the top ten host countries are all in the ‘Global South’, often countries neighbouring crises. Indeed, the ‘European Migrant Crisis’ is more reflective of the public reaction to the phenomenon than its scale.

In this climate, organisations such as SOS Méditerranée, have made it their mandate in the last few years to rescue migrants and refugees at sea. In this article, we ask what can humanitarians operating on terra firma learn from rescuers at sea? What are the particularities of the maritime environment, that allow for the adoption of new practices and ideas? How can NGOs learn from each other to pre-empt changes in the humanitarian sector and thus, remain relevant in a rapidly changing world?

Maritime Law

The laws on rescuing migrants and refugees at sea are specific and helpfully practical.[7]

National waters stretch 12 nautical miles[8] beyond the coastline of a given country. Beyond those 12 miles is the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 200 nautical miles, and further beyond the EZZ are international waters. Maritime law stipulates that a vessel must aid another in distress regardless of these delineations.

The obligation to rescue another vessel in distress is a long-standing tradition among sea-farers, which has been enshrined in law over the course of the last century. Three pieces of legislation are most relevant to rescue at sea:

1. 1974 SOLAS convention: The international convention for the Safety of Life at Sea obliges the ‘master of a ship at sea, on receiving information from any source that persons are in distress at sea, … to proceed with all speed to their assistance”
2. 1979 SAR convention: The international convention on Maritime Search and Rescue ensures that assistance [is] provided to any person in distress at sea … regardless of the nationality or status of such a person or the circumstances in which that person is found’ (Chapter 2.1.10) and to ‘… provide for their initial medical or other needs, and deliver them to a place of safety’ (Chapter 1.3.2).
3. 1982 UN convention on the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) details points of the two conventions above, and imposes every coastal state party to set up and maintain effective Search and Rescue operations at sea and to cooperate with neighbouring states for this purpose.

The Simplicities of Maritime Rescue

The conventions cited above mean that rescue at sea is generally more straightforward than terrestrial humanitarianism.

‘Entraide’[9]: All of the laws mentioned above rest on the assumption that humans are equal, and in a hostile environment (that is the sea, rather than our natural habitat that is on land) – especially in a situation of distress -, humans are tied together in the struggle against the elements.

Search and Rescue: On finding out that a vessel is in distress, a master of a ship has to search and rescue the passengers aboard. The importance of this is paramount, as it means that legally once a master has been alerted to distress, he/she must go out of his or her way to find, and once found, rescue those aboard that vessel. The imperative to help those in distress eliminates any choice on the part of the humanitarian at sea.

Impartiality: Passengers in distress should be helped regardless of nationality or status [10] and the master of a ship is actively (and legally) deterred from taking any statements and making any decisions on the status of those rescued[11]. The application of humanitarian principles, particularly that of impartiality[12], is therefore less contentious on sea than it is on land. It is once disembarking the passengers, that things become more difficult for sea-rescuers.

Protection of vulnerable peoples: The SAR convention refers to ‘a place of safety’ as a “location where rescue operations are considered to terminate, and where: the rescued persons’ safety of life is no longer threatened; basic human needs (such as food, shelter and medical needs) can be met; and transportation arrangements can be made for the rescued persons’ next or final destination[13].” Parallels can be made with securitised refugee camps on land.

Embracing Change at Sea

Humanitarian operations on land are different to rescues at sea and can often be much more complex in execution. Maritime rescues are often discrete and time-limited interventions – a rarity in a time of protracted humanitarian crises. Complications on land arise because operations are rarely quick in and out interventions. Maritime rescuers have a difficult task, but once passengers are disembarked on land they are no longer the ship’s responsibility and arguably, it is at this point that things get complicated in the humanitarian chain.

That being said, the simplicities of humanitarian aid at sea allow us to see how change is taking place in the sector as a whole and how organisations can be better prepared to adapt to these changes (both on land and at sea). The following aspects of SOS Méditerranée’s experience are encapsulated in the innovations below, and demonstrate what humanitarians on land can do to remain relevant in the years to come:

Innovative Financing & citizens’ movements: In the space of 6 weeks, SOS Méditerranée crowdfunded €275,000 to acquire and equip a rescue ship (The Aquarius) for migrants/refugees making the perilous crossing across the Mediterranean. Crowdfunding is drastically changing the humanitarian financing landscape and the refugee crisis has been a rife testing ground for this innovative financing tool (campaigns like #HelpCalais spring to mind). The citizen movements behind this operation remind us of the voluntary mobilizations that lie at the heart of humanitarian work. Crowdfunding also allows for specific and time-bound projects to be put forward, developed and implemented by the public.

Local competencies: Rescues at sea base themselves on who is present and able to respond and find another vessel in distress. Those who end up doing the rescuing are those with the most knowledge of the sea, those who have enough space on board, and in some cases those with the right medical equipment. On land, humanitarians are often criticised for flying in external resources (human and material) and not using local contextual knowledge enough. At sea being at the right place at the right time is the main decisive factor in who responds and where.

Cooperation: Humanitarians at sea must and do cooperate with other vessels (rescue, commercial, and national), other NGOs, and with the governments of various nations to ensure the search, rescue, and disembarkation of those in distress. SOS Méditerranée estimates that in 2016, there were up to 12 rescue boats in the Mediterranean (though they were the only ones operating throughout the low season). To avoid the dangerous duplication of efforts, rescue boats must cooperate and play to their strengths – even the most gentle of approaches could capsize an overloaded dingy, let alone the approach of too many boats. The boats themselves may also be determinants of who is best placed for a rescue operation – passenger capacities, rescue equipment, medical facilities, food and water provisions, psychological services (those rescued are often traumatised). The humanitarian concept of ‘filling the gap’ – often an intention that is not realised on land – seems to be unusually well-applied at sea.

Access: Finally, combined with the other factors mentioned above, access to affected populations at sea is easier than on land. On land, environmental (e.g.: landslides) or human barriers (political, military, or socio-economic) stand in humanitarians’ way, whereas at sea, barriers (apart from occasional rough seas) do not indefinitely impede access to populations in need of assistance.

Conclusion

The legal and environmental simplicity of rescue at sea creates the space for new approaches and tools to be tested. Land-based humanitarians could adopt these in order to pre-empt the changes that are likely to shape the sector in years to come – e.g.: innovative financing, increased partnership building, and a shift towards localisation. As operations get ever more complex for humanitarians the world over, organisations that learn from others, pre-empt change and adapt accordingly, will be the ones that survive

[1] This article is based on an event run by La Foundation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, organised by the Chair of « Exil et migrations », directed by Alexis Nuselovici of the Collège d’études mondiales, with panellists from Action Against Hunger, IRIS and SOS Méditerranée.
[2] Edwards, Adrian, 2016, UNHCR, Accessed here in June 2017.
[3] Edwards, Adrian, 2016, UNHCR, Accessed here in June 2017.
[4] UNHCR, 2015, Global Trends, Edwards, Adrian, 2016, UNHCR, Accessed here in June 2017.
[5] http://www.unhcr.org/afr/news/latest/2015/12/5683d0b56/million-sea-arrivals-reach-europe-2015.html
[6] Euronews, 2016, Record 5000 migrants drown in the Mediterranean in 2016, Accessed here in June 2017.
[7] Note we mainly refer to non-state ships in this article – such as the vessels of SOS Méditerranée and other non-governmental vessels. This is because the law that applied to state vessels is particular, especially regarding the treatment of refugees and migrants.
[8] 22.2 km or 13.8 miles.
[9] Entraide is a French word which translates literally into English as ‘inter-aid’ and is defined as mutual aid, or mutual assistance.
[10] This law builds on the 1951 refugee convention, which prohibits the return of refugees/asylum seekers to the “frontiers of territories where [their] life or freedom would be threatened on account of [their] race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion” ((Article 33(1)). In the case of the Mediterranean rescues done by organisations like SOS Méditerranée, this means they cannot return the majority of those rescued to the Libyan coastline (where many embarked).
[11] “If rescued persons appear to indicate that they are asylum-seekers or refugees or that they fear persecution or ill-treatment if disembarked at a particular place, the Master should inform the rescued persons concerned that the Master has no authority to hear, consider or determine an asylum request” Note: as stated in an earlier footnote, state vessels have different rules regarding asylum claimants on board
[12] “Humanitarian action must be carried out on the basis of need alone, giving priority to the most urgent cases of distress and making no judgement no distinctions on the basis of nationality, race, gender, religious belief, class or political opinions.” OCHA on Message: Humanitarian Principles. Accessed here in June 2017.
[13] IMO, UNHCR & the International Chamber of Shipping, January 2015, Rescue at Sea. Accessed here in June 2017.

GENF. A líbiai parti őrség újabb 110 afrikai bevándorlót mentett ki a Földközi-tengerből a líbiai partok közelében - közölte kedden a Nemzetközi Migrációs Szervezet (IOM).