Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 21 November 2012
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality
Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals
12:00 pm
David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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We are now in public session. The purpose of the meeting is to consider new EU legislative proposals on a variety of matters that have been referred to the joint committee for its consideration. We have had a discussion on the various intricacies of these proposals in private session and I now propose to deal with them.
COM (2012) 363 is a proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the fight against fraud to the EU's financial interest by means of criminal law. It is proposed that this proposal warrants further scrutiny. It is proposed that the committee will write to the Department of Justice and Equality asking it to keep the committee informed regarding developments with regard to this proposal and in particular to keep it informed on any development regarding the legal basis for the proposal and the setting of minimum penalties, sanctions for offences and statutory limitations. Is that agreed? Agreed.
COM (2011) 873 is a proposal in respect of a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European border surveillance system, EUROSUR. It is proposed that this proposal does not warrant further scrutiny. Is that agreed? Agreed.
COM (2012) 81 is a proposal in respect of a Council regulation on migration from the Schengen information system, SIS 1+ to the second generation Schengen information system, SIS II, recast. As it is decided to implement the provisions of Schengen under a new SIS II system, this proposal has no direct impact for Ireland. It is proposed that this proposal does not warrant further scrutiny. Is that agreed? Agreed.
COM (2012) 239 and COM (2012) 240 are proposals for Council decisions concerning the conclusion of the agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Turkey on the re-admission of persons residing without authorisation. It is proposed that these proposals do not warrant further scrutiny. Is that agreed? Agreed.
COM (2012) 254 is an amended proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the establishment of EURODAC for the comparison of fingerprints and to request comparison with EURODAC data by member states' law enforcement authorities and Europol for law enforcement purposes and amending Regulation (EU) No. 1077/2011 establishing a European agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice. It is proposed to write to the Department of Justice and Equality seeking additional information on the proposal. Is that agreed? Agreed.
COM (2012) 265, COM (2012) 266, COM (2012) 267 and COM (2012) 268 are proposals for Council decisions on the signature and conclusions of agreements between the UK and Ukraine and Moldova, respectively, amending the existing agreements between the EU and these two countries on the facilitation of the issuance of visas. These proposals form part of the Schengen acquis in which Ireland does not take part. It is proposed that these proposals warrant further scrutiny. Is that agreed? Agreed.
COM (2012) 526 is a proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council amending the existing decision with a view to increasing the co-financing rate of the European rescue fund, the European return fund and the European fund for the integration of third country nationals as regards certain provisions related to financial management or where certain member states are experiencing or threatened with serious difficulties with respect to their financial stability.
Members may wish to note that we understand the motion seeking to opt into this proposal will be reflected in the committee next week. It is proposed that this proposal therefore does not warrant further scrutiny. Is that agreed? Agreed.
Green Paper COM (2011) 735 is the Green Paper on the right to family reunification of third country nationals living in the European Union (203/86 EC). It is proposed that this proposal does not warrant further scrutiny. Is that agreed? Agreed. This concludes our consideration of the proposals.