measures adopted before 1 December 2009 (a category that includes both organisations) we should seek to rejoin when we opt out of those measures as a whole in December 2014.
The Government will seek to rejoin measures that combat cross-border crime and keep our country safe. Command Paper 8671 contains a set of 35 measures, including both Europol and Eurojust as they are currently constituted, that the Government believes it would be in the national interest to seek to rejoin.
The Government has not opted in to the new Europol proposal because of concerns over powers to direct national police and mandatory data sharing, including of sensitive law enforcement intelligence related to national security. However, we will opt in to the proposal once it has been adopted if these concerns are met in the negotiations.
The coalition agreement makes clear that the UK will not participate in the Commission's recently published proposal for a European Public Prosecutor's Office.
James Brokenshire: The body that preceded Europol in supporting law enforcement cooperation in the EU was the Europol Drugs Unit. This was established in June 1993 and was replaced by Europol in July 1999. The body that preceded Eurojust in supporting judicial cooperation in the EU was known as Pro-Eurojust. This was formed in December 2000 and was replaced by Eurojust in February 2002. We have not received any recent representations about the UK's membership of these now superseded bodies.
Illegal Immigrants
Mr Harper: The information requested is shown in the following table:
| Enforcement visits | |
| 2008 | 14,711 |
| 2009 | 11,642 |
| 2010 | 14,309 |
| 2011 | 14,203 |
| 2012 | 14,200 |
| 2013 (Q1) | 3,840 |
Immigration
Mr Harper [holding answer 11 July 2013]: The Home Office's quarterly written evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee includes a description of work in hand and is published by the Committee.
Mr Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department put in place to control immigration from other EU member states in (a) 2005, (b) 2010 and (c) 2012.
Mr Harper: The rights of European Union nationals to live and work in other member states, and to be accompanied by their family members who do not hold a European Union nationality, are set out in the 2004 Free Movement Directive (2004/38/EC) by which the UK is bound. The directive was implemented in the UK through the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006.
Free movement rights are not unconditional: after three months, those exercising rights must prove that they are a worker, student, self-employed or self-sufficient, such that they do not burden social welfare systems. The Home Office has strict checks in place to ensure that EU nationals who apply for registration documentation meet the requirements set out in the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006. EU nationals who do not meet one of these requirements will not have a right to reside in the UK.
The Inter-Ministerial Group on Migrants' Access to Benefits and Public Services aims to ensure the UK's offer to legal migrants on benefits and services is fair but does not act as an inappropriate incentive to migrate and that rules preventing illegal migrant access are effectively enforced.
The Government does not tolerate abuse of free movement. The Secretary of State for the Home Department, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May), has consistently raised her concerns about fraud and abuse of free movement at the Justice and Home Affairs Council, and we are working to curb such abuse both domestically, and together with our European partners. The Government is also examining the scope and consequences of the free movement of people across the EU as part of the Review of Balance of Competences.
Immigration: Married People
Mr Harper: The latest published figures for partner visas issued under the family route are given in the following table:
Entry clearance visas issued to those entering as partners through the Family route, 2008 to 2012
| Visas issued | |
| 2008 | 45,099 |
| 2009 | 39,556 |
| 2010 | 40,466 |
| 2011 | 34,832 |
| 2012 | 31,541 |
Notes:
1. Includes visas issued for a probationary period and for immediate settlement. From July 2012, it also includes 'post flight' partners joining those who have been granted refugee status or humanitarian protection but who have yet to apply for or be granted settlement.
2. It is not possible from the published statistics to distinguish between those granted visas under the old family rules and those granted visas under new family rules implemented since 9 July 2012.
Source:
Table be_04. Immigration Statistics, January to March 2013
