I am writing to update you on the position of the above dossier that was last considered by the Committee in November 2005.[117]

  This Commission Communication, published in 2005, dealt with a range of possible actions and proposals in the area of organised crime. It was last discussed at Working Group level in 2005. Enquiries with the Council Secretariat have shown that there is unlikely to be any discussion on the paper in the foreseeable future.

  Any specific proposals that are put forward based on the Communication will be discussed and negotiated separately. They will, of course, be deposited with Parliament and be subject to scrutiny in the normal way.

Undated, received 13 July 2007

  Thank you for your letter, undated but received on 13 July 2007, which Sub-Committee F of the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Union considered at a meeting on 25 July 2007.

  The Committee last considered this document on 9 November 2005 [sic]. I wrote the following day to Paul Goggins MP, the minister then responsible, explaining that it had been decided to keep the document under scrutiny, and asking to be informed of further developments.

  It is clear from your letter that there have been no such developments, and are unlikely to be in the foreseeable future. This has indeed been clear for over a year from conversations between your officials and the Clerk to the Sub-Committee. The Clerk has explained on a number of occasions that the Committee cannot consider clearing a document from scrutiny unless and until it is informed by a minister of progress, or lack of it. Having now received the courtesy of a ministerial reply, the Committee is content to clear the document from scrutiny.

  It may be appropriate for me to mention that there is another document in very much the same position. This is the Proposal for a Council Decision on the improvement of police cooperation between Member States of the European Union, especially at the internal border and amending the Convention implementing the Schengen Agreement (Document 5284/06). The Committee considered a re-draft of this proposal on 1 March 2006, and I wrote to Mr Goggins that day highlighting in particular the privacy implications of the extension of police powers to cross-border surveillance of non-suspects. We suggested that the views of the Information Commissioner be sought, and Mr Goggins wrote on 27 March 2006 to say that this had been done. But although I have since seen copies of letters between several Home Office ministers (including yourself) and the Commons European Scrutiny Committee, I have not myself (despite reminders at official level) received any letter explaining whether or not there has been progress in the negotiations, or whether the views of the Information Commissioner were received, and if so what they were. This too is a document still under scrutiny.

26 July 2007