Brussels, 14/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 14 April, in a report, the UK House of Lords sub-committee on home affairs, health and education criticised the most recent Stockholm 2010-2014 programme. In a press release, the sub-committee described it too vague and consisting of a “shopping list”. The Lords are demanding that, in future, priorities in this programme are more strategic with genuine evaluation within the programme. The British representatives are also waiting for the finalisation of European PNR discussions, which they consider urgent. This would allow for passenger data to be gathered for flights to and from the EU and even for internal EU flights. They also want to work on the “data protection” package to be finalised, which contains a general regulation and directive on crime and police affairs.
The sub-committee is far from critical of the United Kingdom's participation European policies at all and underlines the usefulness of the country's cooperation with the Europol and Eurojust agencies and the benefits this has for the country. The subcommittee does not reject the usefulness of the work carried out by the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) either but does believe that it should be subject to an evaluation and that, like all the other agencies mentioned, including the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and ENISA, it should be given an adequate budget that is well managed and subject to parliamentary accountability.
The sub-committee believes that political scrutiny must be a priority over the next four years, particularly after a period that has seen a prolific production of legislation and which now requires consolidation of what has been put on the table. The sub-committee says that any new legislation must be underpinned by appropriate data and convincing reasons for carrying out European-level action. This report comes just before the United Kingdom withdraws from several justice and home affairs policies, as it is allowed to do under a protocol to the Lisbon Treaty. The United Kingdom, however, still wants to remain part of Europol and Eurojust. A working group has been set up at the Council to discuss the modalities for this “opt out”. (SP)