Brussels, 28/01/2010 (Agence Europe) - Enhanced police cooperation, tackling terrorism, immigration and a common judicial area are all among the main Spanish Presidency priorities presented this week to MEPs.
Spanish Home Affairs Minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba said that the Spanish Presidency would concentrate on defining, in close collaboration with the European Parliament, an action plan for implementing the Stockholm programme. Spain also wants to set up an internal security committee and to solve the technical problems affecting the SIS II and VIS systems for sharing Schengen and visa information, the minister told the Parliament's civil liberties committee on Tuesday 26 January. He also advocated an internal security strategy to be defined in a “simple, brief and concise” document setting out the risks and threats shared by EU countries and also possible solutions (see EUROPE 10062). The Presidency will seek to give fresh impetus to transatlantic relations in tackling terrorism and organised crime, he added, noting that a ministerial meeting would take place in April. Answering a question from an MEP on the issue of visa reciprocity between the Czech Republic and Canada, the minister said the situation was “unacceptable”, and he called on the Commission to do everything possible to put an end to this discrimination. He also proposed putting the emphasis on police cooperation through joint police cooperation teams and an “Erasmus scheme for police”, and he expressed the Presidency's determination to combat gender-based violence, human trafficking, cybercrime, money laundering and drug trafficking. He proposed to conduct an explosives monitoring policy, by means of an early warning system between countries and the introduction of a traceability scheme in the explosives trade. He expressed his support for sharing “best practice” in combating radicalisation and recruitment.
On immigration, Pérez Rubalcaba set out the priorities to be followed over the next six months: pushing on with the global approach to migration, developing a legal immigration policy, strengthening Frontex, and combating falsification of documents. Taking over from his colleague, Spanish Labour and Immigration Minister Celestino Corbacho Chaves said he was committed to a “broad, long-lasting and integral” migration policy which takes account of labour market needs. The Immigration and Asylum Pact, which will be reviewed this year, was the most appropriate basis for this, he said, stressing the need to work on legal immigration, integration policies, an action plan for unaccompanied minors, the permit directive and the seasonal workers directive. “Europe will need more immigration in the future,” he acknowledged, but added that it must be “legal” and “controlled”.
Spanish Justice Minister Francisco Caamaño Domínguez was not given an easy ride, with several MEPs asking about the SWIFT agreement, a controversial issue at the Parliament (see EUROPE 10063). At his hearing on Wednesday 27 January, the minister, nevertheless, was able to set out some of the objectives for the coming six months. He firstly encouraged the Commission and Parliament to quickly apply the Lisbon Treaty and the Stockholm programme, in order to improve the legal security if EU nationals. He listed a number of issues still pending, initiatives already begun, propositions to be followed through and laws to be harmonised. “All this will require more dialogue and more intense work,” he warned, indicating that the priority was to avoid “Lisbon becoming the cause of useless paralysis on important issues”. He stressed the importance of legislative harmonisation in rights and procedural guarantees. He also said he hoped to bring forward “as quickly as possible” a European proposal on passing on air passenger information (European PNR), which would mean having to “find a proper balance between real security needs and the requirements of personal data protection”. The minister also said that he was looking for a negotiating mandate to conclude a binding international agreement on information exchange, with strong built-in guarantees. He also hoped for a negotiating mandate for the accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights. The minister also said he would support a directive on criminal sanctions in cases of infringement of intellectual property. In judicial cooperation, one of the Spanish Presidency's main priorities will be to focus attention on victims, with the aim of offering greater protection and improving assistance. A further priority is to make the best possible use of information and communication technologies in judicial administration. He noted initiatives such as setting up a European e-justice portal. (B.C./transl.rt)