Terrorist expulsion proposal meets resistance

A group of member states is blocking an attempt by the UK to bring on to the EU agenda a controversial proposal on the expulsion of terrorist suspects.

Finland, Sweden and Denmark have opposed the UK’s proposed wording for Council of Ministers’ conclusions which would see member states agreeing that the expulsions to states such as Libya and Algeria are "an effective tool for states" to protect their citizens "from foreign nationals who are believed to pose a threat to national security". "Diplomatic assurances" from third countries not to torture or harm the individual were described, in the UK’s proposal, as "an effective way forward".

The issue is controversial because courts in various EU states and the European Court of Human Rights have ruled the practice illegal when there is a risk that the individual may face torture in his or her home country.

The UK made the case during a recent meeting of experts for this wording to be inserted in the conclusions agreed by interior ministers, but encountered strong opposition. There were concerns among some member states that their national parliaments would oppose any move at EU level to bring it on to the agenda. "For us this is very problematic…we were not very happy with the conclusions and wanted them to go," said one EU diplomat.

The UK had wanted the conclusions to be published following the meeting of interior ministers on 8-9 November but one diplomat said that "they are no longer in the running". The matter may be raised next year as part of a broader discussion on counter-terrorism.

But there is some support for the UK move in the Council. Interior ministers of the six biggest EU states - the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Poland - signed off, during a meeting last month, on conclusions similar to those put forward at Council of Ministers level.

The Council’s new anti-terrorism co-ordinator, Gilles de Kerchove, is also thought to be sympathetic to the idea and recognises the difficulty that states including the UK have when an individual is thought to be involved in terrorist activity but a conviction in court is difficult to achieve.

But both the United Nations and the Council of Europe have warned against the practice. "I strongly share the view that diplomatic assurances do not work as they do not provide adequate protection against torture and ill-treatment," Louise Arbour, the UN high commissioner for human rights said last year.

• The Council’s anti-terrorism co-ordinator, Gilles de Kerchove, will brief interior ministers next week (6-7 December) on radicalisation and recruitment of terrorists and how to improve the sharing of intelligence information across the EU. Interior and employment ministers will also meet to discuss the European Commission’s proposal to set up an EU ‘blue card’ for highly skilled migrant workers.

A group of member states is blocking an attempt by the UK to bring on to the EU agenda a controversial proposal on the expulsion of terrorist suspects.