The first trialogue interinstitutional negotiations on the draft regulation providing for a mutual recognition mechanism on decisions taken by member states relating to the freezing and confiscation of criminal assets (see EUROPE 11694) were held on Tuesday 23 January.
A European source said that after the talks, the parties were confident that agreement could be finalised under the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU. The Council decided on its negotiating position in early December (see EUROPE 11922), and the European Parliament did so in early January (see EUROPE 11937).
At this first trialogue, the following points are reported to have been discussed: the regulation’s scope of application, reasons for not recognising and not applying decisions to freeze and confiscate assets, and the form of certificates relating to these decisions that the authorities are expected to provide.
Implementation deadlines for freezing and confiscation decisions were discussed, but the above source says that further technical meetings will be needed on the subject.
MEPs want to introduce shorter deadlines than those suggested by the European Commission and backed by the Council, wanting the deadline for implementation by the member states of freezing or confiscation decisions to be 20 rather than 60 days in order to prevent criminals having the time to shift their assets. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)