Brussels, 30/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - From 1 December, the United Kingdom is expected to retain some three dozen European policies in the domain of justice and home affairs of the total 130 or so. It will put the three dozen policies to the vote at the Houses of Parliament.
Under Protocol 36 to the Lisbon Treaty, the UK needed to notify Europe by 1 June 2014 of its desire to withdraw from certain JHA legislation introduced before the Lisbon Treaty came into force at the end of 2009, thus giving London an opt-out option. The UK notified Europe of its intentions in 2013.
On paper, London is withdrawing from a substantial number of European rules and reguations, but is planning to retain some of the most important measures, such as the European Arrest Warrant (EAW). There is currently fierce debate about the EAW in the United Kingdom, with detractors accusing it of being inefficient and discrimating against people holding British passports. The country's involvement in Europol, the EU agency for police cooperation among member states, and Eurojust, its equivalent for judicial affairs, is also recommended. David Cameron's government wants to introduce new policies and join the Schengen Information System Mark II, SIS2. In total, London is planning to retain 29 non-Schengen measures and incorporate six Schengen measures. The latter six require the unanimous approval of all EU member states.
This is where things become more complicated for the UK, explains a European source. In dropping certain policies, the UK will no longer be part of the Prüm Decision of 2008 which covers the automatic exchange of information about large-scale demonstrations, counter-terror and other forms of cross-border police cooperation. The Commission has been working on the British opt-out since 2013, and has suggested that London rejoin the Prüm Decision at the end of 2015, but Spain is not happy about this and wants the UK to remain in the decision from 1 December onwards. Madrid is reported to have expressed reservations recently about agreeing to the six Schengen measures. Spain is reported to want a guarantee that the UK will not take advantage of SIS2 and hand its data over to other parties. If this decision were to delay the decision, then the source says this would mean that not one of the JHA policies decided before the Lisbon Treaty would apply in the UK from 1 December 2014 onwards. The UK wants to avoid any delays and is said to be currently in talks with Madrid to find a solution. The European Commission would need to give approval to the non-Schengen part of the decision (which it has already done) and then it would be for the EU Council of Ministers to decide on the Schengen measures by 30 November. Agreement may be reached using the written procedure. (SP)