30.4.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 116/1

(1)

The European Council has decided, in pursuit of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, to give the EU the capabilities required to take and implement decisions on the full range of conflict prevention and crisis management tasks referred to in Article 17(2) of the TEU.

(2)

The Agreement between the Member States of the European Union concerning the status of

known as the EU SOFA, is in general applicable only to the metropolitan territory of the Member States.

(3)

The provisions of Article 18 of the EU SOFA are not applicable to claims by a Member State against any other Member State for damage to any property owned by it or injury or death suffered by any military or civilian personnel of its armed services, insofar as the act causing the damage, injury or death mentioned below occurs either within the territory of third countries where the EU crisis management operation is conducted or sustained, or on the high seas.

(4)

Specific agreements (SOFA) will have to be concluded with the host third countries concerned in the case of exercises or operations taking place outside the territory of the Member States. These agreements will generally contain provisions related to claims introduced by the third countries concerned or by their nationals,

1.

‘military personnel’ shall mean:

2.

‘civilian personnel ’ shall mean civilian personnel seconded by the Member States to EU institutions for activities in the context of the preparation and execution of the tasks referred to in Article 17(2) of the TEU, including exercises, or civilian personnel, with the exception of locally hired personnel, working with headquarters or forces or otherwise made available to the EU by the Member States for the same activities.

—

in the framework of the preparation and execution of the tasks referred to in Article 17(2) of the TEU, including exercises and

—

outside any territory to which the EU SOFA applies.

—

was caused by military or civilian personnel from the other Member State in the execution of their duties in connection with the aforementioned tasks, or

—

arose from the use of any vehicle, vessel or aircraft owned by the other Member State or used or operated by its personnel and provided either that the vehicle, vessel or aircraft causing the damage was used in connection with the aforementioned tasks, or that the damage was caused to property being so used.

—

damage to any property owned, used or operated by a Member State in connection with the preparation or execution of the tasks referred to in Article 17(2) of the TEU, including exercises,

—

injury or death suffered by any personnel from a Member State while such personnel were engaged in the performance of their official duties,

30.4.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 116/8

(1)

By its Decision of 23 September 2002 (3) the Council appointed the members and alternate members of the Advisory Committee on Social Security for Migrant Workers for the period from 23 September 2002 to 22 September 2004.

(2)

The members and alternate members of that Committee from the new Member States should be appointed for the period ending on 22 September 2004,

30.4.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 116/11

(1)

By its Decision of 22 December 2003 (2), the Council appointed the members and alternate members of the Advisory Committee on Safety and Health at Work for the period from 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2006.

(2)

The members and alternate members of the Advisory Committee for Safety and Health at Work for the new Member States should be appointed for the period ending on 31 December 2006,

30.4.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 116/14

(1)

By its Decision of 6 March 2003 (2), the Council appointed the members and alternate members of the Management Board of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training for the period from 6 March 2003 to 5 March 2006.

(2)

The members and alternate members of the Management Board of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training representing the new Member States should be appointed for a period expiring on 5 March 2006,

30.4.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 116/16

(1)

By its Decision of 3 June 2002 (2) the Council appointed the members and alternates of the Administrative Board of the European Agency for the period from 3 June 2002 to 2 June 2005.

(2)

The members and alternates of the said Administrative Board from the new Member States should be appointed for the period ending on 2 June 2005,

30.4.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 116/18

—

Member States' authorities responsible for security and public order at European Council meetings and other comparable international events have to ensure that the right of free expression of opinion and the right of peaceful assembly are upheld, while as far as possible preventing interference by those whose aims or actions constitute an offence or involve the use of violence,

—

the disturbances that have occurred at some European Council meetings and other comparable international events have restricted full enjoyment of the freedoms enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights,

—

such occasions have shown the need for more effective, better coordinated cooperation at European level between Member States' competent authorities and for police forces to assist one another, subject to national legislation and within the limits of their powers, in preventing and investigating offences,

—

subject to national legislation, cooperation between Member States' police forces should also be fostered by means of a targeted exchange of information of use in preventing disruption of public order and for security at events,

—

European Council meetings are currently held at the premises of the Council of the European Union in Brussels and the other Member States have to cooperate fully with the authorities of the Kingdom of Belgium and with the Security Office of the General Secretariat of the Council,

—

with regard to security at European Council meetings and comparable events, it is necessary to give full effect to the provisions of Joint Action 97/339/JHA, governing some types of police cooperation for events with public order and security implications,

—

effective prevention is also achieved through measures taken by the Member States to discourage troublemakers from attending events that take place abroad in connection with the holding of European Council meetings and comparable events,

—

security arrangements for international events have on occasion involved recourse to the measures provided for in Article 2(2) of the 1990 Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement (hereafter referred to as the Schengen Convention), thereby possibly causing inconvenience at some border crossings in the host Member State, owing to the large-scale influx of travellers to be checked, and detracting from people's freedom of movement in the European Union,

—

the lack of information and alerts on individuals in respect of whom there are well-founded suspicions that they may disrupt the holding of European Council meetings or other comparable international events may inhibit the effective and less onerous application of the measures provided for in Article 2(2) of the Schengen Convention,

—

the availability of information regarding such individuals may make it possible to conduct targeted checks to identify them, thereby facilitating the free movement of other people,

—

Member States are well aware that the reintroduction of border checks under Article 2(2) of the Schengen Convention is a measure to be applied in accordance with the criteria laid down in the Convention and in full compliance with the Decision of the Executive Committee of 20 December 1995 (3),

1.

In accordance with national law, Member States are invited to supply the Member State hosting a European Council meeting or another comparable event with any information available to them on movements, in order to be present at that event, by individuals or groups in respect of whom there are substantial grounds for believing that they intend to enter the Member State with the aim of disrupting public order and security at the event or committing offences relating to the event. Such information may also be supplied to the Member States through which such individuals or groups are expected to transit.

2.

In accordance with the provisions of Joint Action 97/339/JHA, information on groups referred to in point 1 should include their overall composition, their routes and their transit and stopping-off points, and their means of transport. The Member State supplying the information may also specify any other relevant details and the level of reliability of the information.

3.

Any Member State applying border controls for the protection of European Council meetings or comparable events, in particular under Article 2(2) of the Schengen Convention, may also take every step to limit, as far as possible, the inconvenience caused by checks on travellers; precedence should accordingly be given to intelligence-led checks focused on individuals in respect of whom there are substantial grounds for believing that they intend to enter the Member State with the aim of disrupting public order and security at the event or committing offences relating to the event.

4.

In order to make it easier for the host Member State to carry out checks focused on travellers, the other Member States are invited to supply any information believed to be of relevance. The information supplied may concern names of individuals in respect of whom there are substantial grounds for believing that they intend to enter the Member State with the aim of disrupting public order and security at the event or committing offences relating to the event, including names of individuals convicted of offences involving disruption of public order at demonstrations or other events, where national legislation allows.

5.

With reference to points 3 and 4, the mere existence of criminal convictions should not automatically justify the adoption of the measures concerning public order and security that are referred to in this Resolution.

6.

The Member State may use the information received under point 4 for the purposes of border checks. Such information may also be used to prevent offences or to ensure public order and security at the event.

7.

Nothing in this Resolution should be interpreted as departing from the principle that the exchange of personal data shall comply with the relevant national and international legislation, bearing in mind the provisions under Title VI of the Schengen Convention and those of the Council of Europe Convention No 108 of 28 January 1981 for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data as well as, where appropriate, the principles set out in Recommendation No R(87) 15 of 17 September 1987 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe regulating the use of personal data in the police sector.

8.

Personal data should be used and kept only until the end of the event for which they were supplied and only for the purposes laid down in this Resolution, unless agreed otherwise with the Member State which supplied the data.

9.

By analogy with the provisions of Joint Action 97/339/JHA, the other Member States may send liaison officers to the host Member State, by specific agreement, in order to assist the local authorities in preparing and implementing security and public order measures.

10.

By specific bilateral agreement with the Member State adopting the measures provided for in Article 2(2) of the Schengen Convention when European Council meetings or other comparable international events are being held within its territory, the checks referred to in point 3 may also, where deemed more appropriate, be carried out with the assistance of liaison officers stationed by Member States at agreed individual border posts.

30.4.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 116/20

(1)

One of the European Union's objectives is to provide citizens with a high level of safety within an area of freedom security and justice.

(2)

That objective shall be achieved by preventing and combating organised crime through closer cooperation between police forces and other competent authorities in the Member States.

(3)

The European Union Strategy for the Beginning of the New Millennium on the Prevention and Control of Organised Crime and, in particular Chapter 2.3 thereof, calls for strengthening the prevention of organised crime and strengthening partnerships between the criminal justice system and civil society.

(4)

The recommendations contained in the 2003 EU Organised Crime Report support partnerships between public and private organisations as an important approach to crime prevention.

(5)

Recommendation 8 of the Final Report of the Second Round of Mutual Evaluations calls on Member States to consider the development of instruments that would facilitate formal agreements between law enforcement agencies and private companies.

(6)

The outcome of the conference ‘Tackling Organised Crime in Partnership’ (20 to 21 November 2003 Dublin) co-financed under the European Community's AGIS programme and developed through a partnership of the incoming Irish and Dutch Presidencies of the Council with the support of Europol and the Commission also addresses this matter.

(7)

Organised crime, if left unchecked, will increasingly cause serious social and economic harm to Governments and business while also seriously damaging the quality of life of citizens.

(8)

The whole of society has a stake in preventing the advance and infiltration of organised crime and it must be tackled at local, national and EU levels.

(9)

The private and public sectors share a common interest in jointly developing ways to identify and prevent the incidence of harm from the activities of organised crime. Partnership arrangements in the fight against organised crime are already in place or underway in different ways in some Member States and have yielded positive results. Such arrangements include partnerships between the public and private sectors which operate successfully on an informal basis.

(10)

The partnership arrangements provided for in the context of this resolution shall not affect the legal and regulatory obligations which fall on the private sector with regard to the fight against organised crime and, in particular, the fight against money laundering.

(11)

The successful partnership structures in the customs area have led to increased intelligence and reduced costs for business,

30.4.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 116/23