Brussels, 04/12/2009 (Agence Europe) - At their recent meeting, the European Justice Ministers encountered difficulties in agreeing on a draft framework decision on the transfer of the proceedings within the Union. If adopted, this proposal would, for example, allow Italy to take action against the perpetrator of an infringement on French territory, even though France would normally be competent in such matters. Amongst other things, the ministers discussed the central point of the proposal, dealing with extending national legal competences in the event of crimes committed outside the borders of the country. The aim of this extension of competences is to allow the transfer of cases brought by another country. Transfers of this kind are used when it is more appropriate to bring a suspect to justice or to incarcerate him or her in his or her country of residence, rather than doing so in the country in which the case was brought. During the talks, however, a number of Member States, led by the United Kingdom, reiterated that they would prefer to use the principle of territoriality, whereas others, such as the Netherlands, suggested that this principle could be combined with that of active/passive personality. Other issues still remain open, such as conditions for transfer, the consequences of these transfers for the requesting and executing States, and costs. Progress made so far this proposal will be used as a basis by the European Commission for the presentation of the forthcoming draft directive, which has become a necessity as a result of the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. The Council must now make a decision on this issue by qualified majority (rather than unanimity) and the Parliament will be co-decision maker, whereas previously it was only consulted. (B.C./trans.fl)