Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs: Mediterranean Region: Human Trafficking (29th June 2011)
Oliver Heald (North East Hertfordshire, Conservative)
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will support EU initiatives to improve joint patrolling arrangements in the Mediterranean Sea in order to deter and apprehend people traffickers.
Damian Green (Minister of State (Immigration), Home Office; Ashford, Conservative)
I have been asked to reply.
The UK supports the changes made in the amending regulation on Frontex, on which political agreement has been reached. It will be formally adopted in plenary by the European Parliament in early autumn 2011 and by the Council shortly after. We believe that the amending Regulation will help improve joint patrolling arrangements in the Mediterranean sea by giving Frontex more control over where member states' technical equipment and human resources are deployed. The amending Frontex Regulation also gives Frontex a mandate to process personal data in the course of its operational activities of persons suspected of people trafficking and smuggling, under condition that it is lawful, necessary and proportionate in relation to the tasks of the Agency; and to pass this data to Europol for their action. We expect this to be a significant improvement in the fight against human trafficking and other forms of cross-border criminality.