Brussels, 05/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - Strengthening the Schengen area, expanding it to Bulgaria and Romania, the asylum package, the European PNR system and civil protection: these are the main dossiers to be covered in the justice and home affairs field that the new Danish Presidency of the EU will attempt to push forward over the next six months. The Presidency has made security its fourth great priority. This choice of subjects can be explained by the many new challenges facing the EU's borders, such as cross-border crime and upheavals in the Arab world, which led to significant numbers of migrants reaching European shores at the beginning of 2011.
In this context, piloting the free movement Schengen area (26 countries are now part of this system) will undoubtedly be one of the most sensitive dossiers that Denmark will have to manage and its progress on this issue is likely to be followed very attentively. In May 2011, the former Danish government announced permanent border controls with Germany and Sweden, until the new government that came about after the September elections, led by Helle Thorning-Schmidt, decided to abandon this project. In this connection, particularly on the safeguard clause, which enables member states, as a last resort, to re-establish internal border controls, the Presidency will attempt to reach the best compromise possible. Nonetheless, it will have to take into account the position of a certain number of member states, which are not very keen on the decision to make controls fall under the remit of the Commission. Denmark too, as a member state, is not really behind decision-making being based on committee procedure. One source also claimed that the change of position on border controls did not mean a pro-Community U-turn by the country because it is quite eager, on the contrary, to maintain its sovereignty on this question.
With regard to enlargement of the Schengen area, the Presidency will also attempt to approve during its six-month period the compromise on a two-phase accession for Bulgaria and Romania. It will attempt to provide assurances to the Netherlands, whilst emphasising the importance of regular Commission reports on the state of corruption and justice in these two countries. The two reports are due out in February and July and may have an effect on the speed with which decisions are reached. This is precisely the position advocated by the Netherlands, which for months has been saying that it wanted to wait until July 2012 and the final Commission evaluations, before reaching a verdict on Bulgarian and Romanian accession.
On the other subjects, the Presidency also wants to make progress as quickly as possible on the asylum package, which includes six texts. Some of them have already significantly moved forward, such as the text on “qualifications” required for being eligible for international protection. Others are moving forward more slowly, such as the directives on reception conditions and procedures or revision of the Dublin II Regulation, which focuses on the designation of the member state responsible for processing asylum seekers' requests. This dossier has indeed been subject to further pressure, when the EU Court of Justice found against member states on the question of sending back asylum seekers to Greece. The Commission had proposed the activation of a suspension clause when degrading treatment towards asylum seekers had been proved in the first country of asylum seeker entry into Europe, which was the case with Greece. This clause was, however, rejected by member states and is not expected to be pushed forward again, despite pressure from the Court of Justice, the Commission and the European Court of Human Rights.
In the justice arena, one of the priority dossiers facing Denmark will be the finalisation of the work on a decision regarding European criminal investigations. A political agreement was reached on 13 December in Brussels by home affairs ministers and negotiations will now be pursued with the Parliament. It should be pointed out that, under this text, member states will be able to gather evidence more easily in their investigations in another member state, which will make its investigation resources available to the country that has activated the investigation decision. The new Commission proposal on the freezing of criminal groups' assets, planned at the beginning of 2012, will also need to be addressed. The Presidency will also pursue its work on the “victims” package of May 2011, including the draft directive establishing minimum standards for the victims of crime, as well as a regulation on the mutual recognition of protection measures taken in the civic legal arena.
Finally, on the question of civil protection, Denmark would like to improve the EU's response to disasters and strengthen the legal basis applicable to “evaluations in the context of rescue operations, as a means to provide aid more rapidly, flexibly and at a lower cost to the countries affected by the disasters”, explains the Presidency in its programme. Its work will focus on the different Commission proposals, which range from recasting the Community civil protection mechanism of 2011, to recasting the financial instrument for civil protection of 2007, to revising of the EU action plan in the CBRN domain of 2009, to following-up
the re-examination of the 2008 directive on the identification and designation of European critical
infrastructure. (SP/transl.fl)