Brussels, 09/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 5 December, MEPs on the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) adopted the agreement ratified with the Council on the directive relating to the European Investigation Order (EIO). The EIO seeks to facilitate the task of the judicial authorities when requesting the opening of an investigation in another EU country in order to obtain evidence. For example, the French judicial authorities tracking criminals holed up in Germany could ask their German counterparts to carry out a house search or to interview witnesses there, explained the LIBE committee.
Under the new rules, an EIO request could be refused only on specific grounds, for instance, “if it could harm essential national security interests or if the measure requested is not authorised by the law of the member state concerned”. An EIO request could also be refused if existing rules on limitation of criminal liability relating to freedom of the press would make it impossible to execute it.
Member states' judicial authorities may refuse an EIO request if they believe it would be incompatible with their fundamental rights obligations. The EP emphasises that this is the first time that such an explicit provision has been inserted in a mutual recognition instrument for criminal law. Member states would have up to 30 days to decide whether or not to accept an EIO request. If they accepted it, there would then be a 90-day deadline for conducting the requested investigative measure. 42 voted in favour of the text, with one against and it is therefore expected to be formally adopted by the Council. The United Kingdom will take part in the EIO arrangements but Ireland and Denmark will not. (SP/transl.fl)