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7. The European Union regulations7.THEEUROPEANUNION REGULATIONSThe prevention and the suppression of trafficking in persons and smuggling ofmigrants are two priorities of the European Union in so far as they concern theprotection of human rights, immigration policies, the security of citizens, andenlargement of the Union to the candidate state members. 35On 28 February 2002, the Council of the European Union adopted a Proposal for aComprehensive Plan to Combat Illegal Immigration and Trafficking of HumanBeings in the European Union. 36 The Plan set a number of priorities for theprevention of illegal immigration and trafficking and emphasises the intention ofthe Union to tackle the problem with a view to establishing an area of freedom,security and justice. The overall plan deals with various aspects of the problem: visapolicy; information exchange on illegal immigration; pre-frontier measures andthose relating to the crossing of the borders; readmission and return policy; thestrengthening of action by Europol; the provision of adequate penalties for thecriminal offences of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants in accordancewith the definitions proposed by the Protocols supplementing the PalermoConvention of 2000 37 and harmonising the criminal laws of the Member States. TheAction Plan is the most recent in a number of initiatives in this field, which include:- the Conclusions of the European Council Meeting in Laeken, held on 14 and 15December 2001, which reaffirm the commitment of the European Council to thepolicy guidelines and objectives defined at Tampere (on 15 and 16 October1999) regarding the creation of an area of freedom, security and justice. Amongits various recommendations, the European Council of Laeken emphasises theneed to harmonise regulations on the trafficking in human beings (conclusionno. 45);- the Conclusions of the European Council Meeting in Tampere held on 15 and 16October 1999 (the so-called ‘Tampere Milestones’), which affirmed theimportance of creating an area of freedom, security and justice within the Unionthrough full application of the possibilities offered by the Treaty of Amsterdam.One of the priorities specified in addressing the problems connected with illegalmigration is the development of measures for the management of migrationflows (Conclusion n. 22). The conclusions of the Presidency of the Council alsoaffirm the commitment “to tackle illegal immigration at its source, especially bycombating those who engage in trafficking in human beings and economicexploitation of migrants”. This requires the Member States to adopt legislationwhich impose severe penalties on those who commit these crimes. The Member35 See E. Camilletti, "La problematica della tratta degli esseri umani: politiche e strategie dell'Unioneeuropea" [The Question of Trafficking in Human Beings: the Policies and Strategies of the European Union],in Diritto & Diritti, November 2002, available at www.diritto.it/articoli/europa/camilletti.html.36 Council of the European Communities, Proposal for a Comprehensive Plan to Combat Illegal Immigrationand Trafficking of Human Beings in the European Union, Doc. no. 6621/1/02 JAI 30 FRONT 19 MIGR 10VISA 29N REV 1, Brussels, 28 February 2002.37 The choice of conforming to the distinction and definitions of the United Nations was reaffirmed in theProposal for a Comprehensive Plan to Combat Illegal Immigration and Trafficking of Human Beings in theEuropean Union, recommendation no. 22.47